In an economic impact study done by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for Emirates, NCAER estimates that the Gulf carrier’s operations in India have contributed over $848million annually to India’s GDP. The world’s largest international airline supports over 86,000 jobs in India and generates almost $1.7billion in foreign exchange earnings.
With India’s aim to become the third-largest aviation market by 2020 and the largest by 2030, the NCAER study emphasises the important contribution that Emirates makes to India’s economy and aviation sector. The report also forecasts the increased contribution that Emirates would be able to make if capacity entitlements were expanded.
“In the past 30 years, we have progressively grown our services to India by increasing capacity and opening new routes. Today we operate 183 weekly flights to nine points across India, offering our customers in India seamless connections to more than 140 destinations, and also facilitating inbound visitors from across our global network into India,” commented Adnan Kazim, Divisional Senior Vice President – Strategic Planning, Revenue Optimisation and Aeropolitical Affairs.
“The NCAER study underlines the importance of air transport and its role as an economic driver in India. Aviation facilitates trade and tourism, and creates employment in many different industries. We are confident that with increased capacity, we can contribute even more to India’s economic growth and development by opening new conduits for trade and investment, through our growing worldwide network,” Kazim added.
Saurabh Bandyopadhyay, the project leader for NCAER said the airline’s economic contribution to the air transport sector is seen to percolate to the economy at large through various multiplier effects. “It predicts further escalation of economic benefits for the Indian economy as Emirates grows the number of seats into India. This growth would result in direct economic contribution, multiplier effect on output and job-creation along with an induced effect on tourism. Apart from the quantified benefits from Emirates’ operations in India, the identified qualitative benefits also entreat an expansion of its operation in India.”
Considering the breadth of Emirates’ network and how the demand for air travel is expected to double in the next 5-10 years in India, Emirates is well positioned to bring a growing number of tourists and business travellers to the country, further enabling trade and investment. The report was launched recently in New Delhi by Bandyopadhyay along with Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, Vice President – India and Nepal, Emirates Airline.