Telangana wins top aviation award, Air India orders 30 planes
HYDERABAD: Aviation depends on public trust before technology, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said on the second day of Wings India 2026, as major aircraft orders, manufacturing agreements and awards marked the event.
India moves up aviation value chain
Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said India was shifting from being a large aviation market to a global aviation power.
“India is no longer just flying aircraft. We are designing, building and leading global aviation,” he said.
Bhatti described flying as a public act of faith.
“Every time a passenger boards an aircraft, they trust engineers they will never meet, regulators they do not know and systems that must function perfectly,” he said, adding that India was now emerging as a designer, manufacturer, maintainer and innovator.
Telangana received the award for best state for promotion of the aviation ecosystem.
Air India, Boeing and Airbus deals announced
Among the most consequential announcements, Air India placed an additional order for 30 fuel-efficient narrowbody aircraft with Boeing, taking its total aircraft order book to 600.
Air India also signed a multi-year agreement with Boeing Global Services under its Component Services Programme for the Boeing 787 fleet, including aircraft on order.
Separately, the airline reached an agreement with Airbus to convert 15 A321neo aircraft into the A321XLR variant, a move expected to support new non-stop international routes.
Manufacturing and maintenance featured in other deals. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited signed a contract with Pawan Hans Limited to supply 10 Dhruv Next Generation helicopters, strengthening the civil helicopter segment.
The Airports Authority of India entered into an agreement with Airports Council International for the Airports Management Professional Accreditation Programme, under which more than 115 aviation professionals will be trained over five years.
Training capacity may lag fleet growth
Industry leaders warned that India’s aviation growth could outpace training capacity unless skilling, regulation and finance are reworked, during a roundtable on flying training and skilling at Wings India 2026.
The discussion was chaired by Prof Bhrigu Nath Singh, Vice-Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University, and moderated by Air Cmde (retd.) Vipul Singh, director of IGRUA.
Andrew Harrison, CEO for compliance and strategic initiatives at GMR Airports, pointed to nearly 1,900 aircraft on order for Indian airlines.
“If we do what we’re doing today, it’s not going to work,” he said, warning that airports often edge out flying schools as traffic rises.
Christine Bohl, director for commercial training market at Boeing Global Services, said training was often treated as a compliance requirement rather than a safety control.
“It all needs to come back to safety,” she said.
Cost and capacity concerns were echoed by Joel M. Davidson, CEO of AeroGuard Flight Training Centre, who said flying schools largely rely on promoter capital due to lack of banking finance.
Drone sector faces tougher phase
India’s drone ecosystem is entering a more demanding phase where scale must be matched by regulatory clarity, security and civilian purpose, speakers said at a Wings India roundtable.
“We want to move towards Atmanirbharta, proliferate mission-critical applications and achieve regulatory excellence,” said Piyush Srivastava, senior economic adviser at the ministry of civil aviation.
The session, moderated by Ezhilan Namaran of ideaForge, examined how drones are governed, financed and deployed. Speakers said incentives had delivered results disproportionate to their size and helped India emerge as a drone exporter.
India fleet to triple in decade: Airbus
India’s fleet of 100-seater commercial aircraft will triple to 2,250 over the next decade, as the country becomes the world’s third largest civil aviation market by 2035, Airbus said.
Presenting the outlook, Jurgen Westermeier, president and managing director of Airbus India and South Asia, said the first India made and assembled Airbus C-295 military transport aircraft would be delivered in the third quarter of 2026.
Airbus is also setting up final assembly lines for H125 helicopters, targeted for delivery next year. Current Airbus sourcing from India stands at $1.5 billion, with over half comprising complex components, including doors, he said.
