Emirates’ Operations in India: $ 848 m impact on GDP

Essa Suleiman presenting the NCAER findings during the press conference in New Delhi

From left: Emirates Airline Vice President – India and Nepal Essa Suleiman, NCAER Project Leader 

Dr. Saurabh Bandyopadhyay and NCAER Senior Consultant Dr. Devendra B. Gupta

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

NCAER estimates that Emirates’ operations have contributed over $ 848 million annually to India’s GDP, supporting over 86,000 Indian jobs and generating almost $ 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 Aeropolitical 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 across our 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 $ 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.”

Dr. Saurabh Bandyopadhyay, NCAER, said: “The current NCAER report observed that Emirates makes an important contribution to the Indian air transport sector in terms of passenger traffic and Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE). The airline’s economic contribution to the air transport sector is seen to percolate to the economy at large through various multiplier effects. The study predicts further escalation of economic benefits for the Indian economy as Emirates grows the number of seats into India. This growth would result in direct economic contribution, multiplier effect on output and job-creation along with an induced effect on tourism. Apart from the quantified benefits from Emirates’ operations in India, the identified qualitative benefits also entreat an expansion of its operation in India.”

In February 2014, the aeronautical authorities of India and the UAE negotiated the first expansion of seat entitlements since 2008. As a result, Dubai-based carriers were awarded an additional 11,000 seats per week. The NCAER study models the economic value of potential future bilateral increases and forecasts that, if Emirates were to operate an additional 4,500 weekly seats between India and Dubai, an additional 4,800 jobs would be created, Foreign Exchange Earnings would rise to US$1.8 billion with the arrival of almost 40,000 more tourists a year.

If the bilateral arrangements were expanded to allow an additional 13,849 seats per week, NCAER forecasts that Emirates’ operations would support 100,405 jobs a year, contribute $ 987.8 million towards GDP and boost Foreign Exchange Earnings to $ 2 billion per year.

Considering the breadth of Emirates’ network and how the demand for air travel is expected to double in the next 5-10 years in India, Emirates is well positioned to bring a growing number of tourists and business travellers to the country, further enabling trade and investment. 

The report was launched in New Delhi today, in the presence of Dr. Saurabh Bandyopadhyay, Project Leader, NCAER; and Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, Vice President – India and Nepal, Emirates Airline.

As of 2015, Emirates flights to Kozhikode have been suspended until further notice.