NEW DELHI: Strong local fundamentals will aide the revival of India's aviation sector, believes Airbus South Asia President, Remi Maillard.
In a conversation with IANS, Remi Maillard, President and Managing Director, Airbus India and South Asia, expressed confidence in the industry's potential along with its revival prospects on the back of strong fundamentals.
"I remain confident about the future of the Indian aviation industry because of the strong local fundamentals," Maillard said.
"That is why, in parallel to our efforts of catalysing a safe traffic recovery, we need to work on further strengthening the foundations for India to become a world leader in the civil aviation industry. This implies further developing the domestic market, turning India into an international hub, growing the MRO and training eco-systems as well as stimulating the helicopter business," he added.
Notably, the sector has been heavily battered by the coronavirus outbreak and its cascading impact on the overall travel industry.
Maillard termed the pandemic as the 'gravest crisis' that industry has ever faced.
"There is not one single player in the market that is immune to the crisis, be it an airline, a lessor, an MRO, a training center, an airport, an equipment supplier or an aircraft manufacturer. It is a long-term crisis," he elaborated.
"Given how deep the crisis is, a full recovery in aviation will take years specifically when it comes to international flights," he added.
Nevertheless, Maillard pointed out that with the economy opening up gradually, demand for air travel has started to pick-up.
"We have now started seeing a gradual increase in air travel as the domestic flights have increased in a phased manner," he said. (IANS)