Emirates’ Operations in India: a US$848 million impact on GDP

Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, and the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in New Delhi, recently released the results of an economic impact study that measures Emirates’ contribution to the Indian economy.

NCAER estimates that Emirates’ operations have contributed over US$848 million annually to India’s GDP, supporting over 86,000 Indian jobs and generating almost US$1.7 billion 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.

Adnan Kazim, Divisional Senior Vice President – Strategic Planning, Revenue Optimisation and Aero political Affairs, Emirates Airline said: “Emirates has been committed to India since we started operations in 1985.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 acrossour global network into India.”

“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. Emirates’ annual operations alone support more than 86,000 jobs across India and contribute US$848 million to the economy. 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.”