Etihad CEO counts on India as third largest aviation market in 4 years

Etihad currently serves 10 destinations in India (Representative image)

India is set to become the third largest aviation market in the world in a period of next four years, according to Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer Antonoaldo Neves.

Etihad has been operating in India for the last 19 years, and the country remains "one of the most important markets for us", Neves told CNBC TV-18.

The airline wants to be "part of the India story", the Etihad CEO said, adding that its commitment to the Indian market is "solid".

Etihad currently serves 10 destinations in India, with 185 weekly flights, Neves noted. The plan is "chart 20 percent growth in India in the next year, and then grow further", the news channel quoted him as saying.

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"India is going to be the third largest aviation market in the next four years," Neves further added.

The Etihad CEO's remarks comes a couple of months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India would soon emerge among the top three international aviation markets.

"In the near future, India would become the third biggest market in the world in the aviation sector," Modi had said on February 14, when Indian private carrier Air India announced the mega deal to acquire 250 aircraft from Airbus.

As per a recent report released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the cumulative market share of Indian airlines - in terms of passengers carried on international flights - stood at 43.5 per cent in October-December 2022, which is significantly higher as against 39.2 percent in the corresponding pre-Covid period of 2019.

According to the report, the maximum number of passengers 32.4 percent are carried to and from the UAE. The second on the list is Singapore (7.9 percent), Thailand (7 percent), Saudi Arabia (6.7 percent) and Qatar (6.3 percent).