MONTREAL, Feb 26 (Reuters) – India’s efforts to improve its aviation infrastructure will give Canada’s Bombardier a long-term chance to boost sales of business jets there, chief executive officer Eric Martel said on Thursday.
Martel told reporters in Montreal that around 60 Bombardier jets were operating in India, adding that one challenge the company faced was the limited infrastructure.
“The good news is that they are spending a lot of money these days. They’re building a dozen airports as far as I know, and maybe even more,” Martel said after a lunch organized by the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations. “The whole infrastructure (investment) taking place over the next few years will definitely open doors for growth for us.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is heading to India with the hopes of boosting trade and improving relations with the world’s most populous country.
Carney has pledged to diversify trade away from the United States, even as the country seeks to negotiate the tariff-free movement of goods with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. Under Trump’s latest tariff regime, planes can be imported into the United States duty free.
The United States, the world’s largest market for business aviation, is crucial for Bombardier, which expects to generate higher revenues and deliver more private jets in 2026.
“It’s a big market for us,” Martel said, adding that Bombardier also has an important U.S. footprint with 2,800 suppliers in the country and a Kansas-based defense division. “I do believe that common sense will prevail.”
(Reporting by Allison Lampert; Editing by David Ljunggren and Will Dunham)
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