On March 10, the U.S. aircraft manufacturing giant, Boeing, has announced that they will be opening a new 737 Freighter facility in India.
This article will cover the details surrounding Boeing’s latest announcement of opening a new 737 Freighter facility in India.
Boeing’s New India 737 Freighter Facility…
Boeing is set to open this new 737 Freighter facility in the city of Hyderabad with the Indian maintenance, repair, and overhaul company, GMR Aero Technic.
This latest announcement from Boeing is part of their $1 billion investment in their supply chain facilities entering the Indian aviation sector.
The new facility will also help support Boeing’s expectation that over the next 20 years, there will be a demand to convert over 1,700 passenger aircraft to freighters, with at least 600 of those destined for Asia.
Not only will India obtain this new facility to help with the country’s aviation sector growth, but the American manufacturer is also investing $24 million for a new logistics center to be set up which will enable India with easier access to spare/replacement aircraft components.
Executive Comments…
Boeing’s Chief Strategy Officer, Marc Allen, has said, “The deal adds to Boeing’s $1 billion supply chain sourcing from India and will help support India’s ambitions to become a global cargo hub.”
On top of Allen’s comments, Salil Gupte, President of Boeing India has said, “There was the demand to convert more than 1,700 passenger planes globally into freighters over the next 20 years, with about 600 coming from Asia.”
“E-commerce demand and electronics manufacturing is growing in India, strengthening the outlook for freighters.”
“So it is only fitting that we have the capability to have a line to make those freighters here in India, not just for India, but for the region and for the world.”
Overall…
Despite the recent lull in air freight demand dropping nearly 15% year-on-year according to IATA, this new facility sheds new hope on the sector, especially for India.
India’s growth within the aviation sector recently is exponential and as such, it isn’t surprising to see announcements like this and it would be a fair assumption to think that there very well could be many more like it in the coming years.
