President and Managing Director of Airbus India and South Asia, Anand Stanley (R), and Francoise Crosnier, Head of Airline Marketing for Airbus

New Delhi: India will require 1,880 new passenger and cargo aircraft between now and 2038, in response to strong demand, while the country’s existing domiciled fleet of 510 aircraft will quadruple to 1,950 by 2038, French aircraft manufacturer Airbus SE said in its latest India Market Forecast on Thursday.

Of the 1,880 new passenger and cargo aircraft, up to 20% could be wide-body plane, the company said in a statement.

"Some 1,440 aircraft are for growth and 440 are needed to replace aircraft that will be retired," it added.

Largest domestic carrier IndiGo is one of the largest customers of Airbus globally, while Wadia Group-owned GoAir has placed large orders for A320 planes from the Toulouse-based company.

InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, the operator of India’s largest airline IndiGo, last year has placed an order for 300 Airbus A320neo family aircraft worth more than $30 billion at list prices. IndiGo had earlier ordered 430 A320neo jets on top of 100 for the older version of the aircraft.

Other airlines like Air India, Vistara, and AirAsia India also operate a large number of Airbus aircraft.

India is set to become one of the world’s largest economies, with some of the world’s fastest growing cities in terms of GDP, including Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore, Airbus said in its latest India Market Forecast adding that the country's air traffic is expected to increase at 8.2% per year.

"In the next 20 years air transportation is expected to be a key enabler and a beneficiary of this economic growth," it added.

The announcement by Airbus comes amid a slowdown in the overall airline and tourism industry globally due to the outspread of Covid-19, which has seen airlines around the world reduce capacity due to a declining demand. The Indian government has recently decided to temporarily bar entry of foreigners to curb the Covid-19 outspread.