After doubling the size of its aviation market in the last four years, India is looking to triple it in the next 15 years. Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, stated that by the end of the 2018 financial year, the country will hit 200 million passenger trips. The figure is up from 160 million passenger trips made in the 2017 financial year and double the size from four years ago, according to Aviation India.

According to the minister, total revenue for the Indian aviation sector stands at an estimated $17.5 billion – similar to rail travel and telecommunications. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), India will become the third largest aviation market in the world in terms of passengers by 2026. The IATA also expects the number of air passengers to grow at a compound average growth rate (CAGR) of 3.7%, to double from 3.8 billion air passengers in 2016 to 7.2 billion air passengers by 2035.

The size of India’s airline groups is on track to be comparable to those of the US and Europe. Given the increase in revenue and inevitable innovation to the market, it appears to be a very bright future for the Indian aviation sector going forward.