During the maiden trip of the Airbus superjumbo A380 in New Delhi on May 6, the company announced its plans to invest one billion dollars in India in the next decade.
The investment will be for training, maintenance and a design center, John Leahy, chief operating officer for customers at European-based Airbus Industrie, said.
Kingfisher Airlines, owned by Indian distiller UB group, ordered five A380s in 2005 among 15 planes in a deal worth about three billion dollars. It expects the first delivery of the aircraft in 2011 as it draws up plans for an international debut, using the A380 -- which has been much delayed in production -- on high-density routes such as to the United States.
Air travel in India has soared in the past five years as almost a dozen new airlines have been launched to serve demand in the fast-expanding economy.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
