During an interaction with PTI, Combes said Airbus is obviously engaged in the decarbonisation of the aviation sector because this effort is part of its journey, which was initiated years ago. Airbus is looking at developing state-of-the-art new engineering capabilities for aviation.
Airbus India and South Asia vice-president Frederic Combes has said Airbus is willing to set up an ecosystem giving a push to Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in order to decarbonise the aviation sector. The aerospace company sees India as the best country for SAF development in South Asia and is willing to bring the technical knowledge of it.
During an interaction with PTI, Combes said Airbus is obviously engaged in the decarbonisation of the aviation sector because this effort is part of its journey, which was initiated years ago.
"I must say that as of today, our products and all the products which are available in the market today are certainly state-of-the-art in sustainability. We are investing a lot in terms of resources, development capability in order to develop the new technology, which will match with this decarbonisation journey," the Airbus executive said.
"Typically one of the concrete examples is that we are willing to set up in India, we are certain to develop an ecosystem regarding the SAF, the Sustainable Aviation Fuel, which will be critical for the future decarbonisation of the aviation sector," he added.
To a question on Airbus' contribution to the push given to 'Make in India', Combes said the aviation firm is contributing to it through its engineering centre, "which adheres to Make in India." Airbus is looking at developing state-of-the-art new engineering capabilities for aviation, he explained.
"One concrete element is certainly not only to engage in aviation commercial, but also in defence and space by filling the vacancies of engineering competencies in India in order to 'Make in India' for skills specific development capabilities," Combes explained. Airbus is also willing to develop SAF related engineering capabilities in India as part of its Make in India initiative, he added.
"Clearly the objective is to use all this engineering capability in order to set up the proper framework regarding SAF development in India. India is certainly one of the best countries which will be the most engaged regarding SAF Development in South Asia."
"And what we want to do is to bring the technical knowledge we have in india. We are working on the SAF in order to develop these footprints in India," the Airbus India and South Asia vice-president said.
According to Airbus officials, the firm's engineering division in India has a strength of 1,000 people and it is willing to hire about 400 more people this year. In the next two years, the firm plans to increase its strength to 2,000 people.