Indian Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, to deliver keynote address at India and Middle East Aviation and Tourism Investor Summit

Indian Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, is to deliver the keynote address at the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation's (CAPA) 2nd Annual India and Middle East Aviation and Tourism Investor Summit which will take place 27-28 April 2006 in Mumbai.

“Minister Patel joins a star-studded list of speakers at this investor ‘Davos of Aviation’ event in India”, said Kapil Kaul, the CAPA's CEO Indian Subcontinent & Middle East. “This is by far the best and most exciting group of speakers ever convened for an international aviation event in India. Delegates will gain extraordinarily valuable insights at the Investor Summit from this outstanding assembly of international and local speakers”.

The confirmed speaker list includes:

• Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Founder and Chairman of easyGroup, • Tony Fernandes, AirAsia, CEO; • Adel Ali, Air Arabia, CEO; • Jim Parker, Managing Director, Raymond James; • James Wilson, CEO, Nakheel; • Dr Abdulaziz Y. Al-Babutain, Director General - Transportation Sector, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority; • Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO, Jet Airways; • Dr Prathap Ramanujam, Secretary, Sri Lanka Ministry of Tourism; • Ajay Singh, Director, SpiceJet; • George Bellew, CEO, Oman Airports Management Authority; • Captain Gopinath, Managing Director, Air Deccan; • Kiran Kumar Grandhi, Managing Director, Hyderabad International Airport; • Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, Go Air; • Manav Singh, Managing Director, Club One Air; • Isabelle Kayaloff, Director, IJK & Associates.

According to Mr Kaul, the Indian aviation market is experiencing “rampant” growth – providing tremendous opportunities for investors. The Centre projects that domestic air traffic will expand at 25% per annum, and international traffic at 15% per annum, through to 2010, generating demand for similar increases in airport capacity, aircraft availability, staff training and ancillary services.

Such has been the recent strong growth, that aircraft manufacturers, Airbus and Boeing, have significantly boosted their 20-year sales forecasts to Indian carriers in recent years. Boeing has gone from predicting 250 aircraft would be required over 20 years in 2002 to just under 600, while Airbus recently upgraded its forecast to 950 – more than a three-fold increase from its forecast at the start of the decade.

“IATA this week forecast that Indian airlines will require USD60 billion in investment by 2030, while airports will require USD30 billion to cope with demand. Foreign investment is vital in this equation – and the Investor Summit will show who, where, when funding is required”, said Mr Kaul.

India's airlines are developing ambitious plans to meet the expected growth in demand. To finance fleet expansion and modernisation, up to 4 carriers - Air India, Indian Airlines, Air Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines - are planning to raise funds through IPOs in 2006. Their upcoming plans will be discussed at the Summit.

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