Qatar Airways’ group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, agrees that India is on track to become the third largest global aviation market by 2025 when he addressed the key leaders in the aviation industry at the International Aviation Summit in New Delhi, India.

Al Baker spoke at a panel discussion entitled ‘Can India be a global aviation leader?’ alongside India’s minister for Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation, the honourable Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, as well as the CEOs of KLM, Kenya Airways, Spicejet and Jet Airways.

The panel discussed the aviation operating environment in India and the opportunities that exist for the market to become the third-largest globally by 2025. The audience includes government officials, airline CEOs, aviation industrialists and senior dignitaries among others.

Apart from discussing India’s aim to become a leader in aviation, the International Aviation Summit focused on key issues that India needs to address in the future, such as airport infrastructure, capacity constraints in Mumbai and taxes to name a few, in order to sustain its linear growth.

The Qatar Airways CEO steered far from controversial statements like the one he made at a conference organised by CAPA Centre for Aviation in Sydney in June.

Akbar Al Baker, said: “I am honoured to have been given the opportunity to share my views on the future of the Indian aviation market at the International Aviation Summit in New Delhi. The State of Qatar and India share a substantive and strong relationship that has evolved over the years, making India an important market for Qatar Airways. This is reflected by the 102 weekly flights we provide to 13 destinations across India.

“We are determined to further grow our presence in the Indian market”

“India is on track to become the third largest global aviation market by 2025 and we are determined to further grow our presence in the Indian market by offering passengers the award-winning quality of service that they deserve. We recently launched our unique Qsuite Business Class product on the Mumbai and Bengaluru routes, to provide passengers with the best experience in the skies,” he added.

The International Aviation Summit in Delhi, India was organised by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) in collaboration with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to discuss the importance of the Indian aviation market, and what it will take for the aviation sector to expand in India while maximising the economic and social benefits of the potential growth.

In April, India’s domestic aviation market celebrated its 44th straight month of double-digit growth and expects to celebrate the 50-month achievement of double-digit growth by next month.

Qatar Airways currently operates 102 weekly flights between Doha and 13 destinations in India, including Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mumbai, Nagpur and Thiruvananthapuram.