Christian Scherer, Airbus's chief commercial officer, labeled the Air India crash as "totally unacceptable," reiterating that safety is paramount in the industry.

Christian Scherer, the chief commercial officer at Airbus, reacted to the Air India tragedy ahead of the Paris Air Show.

Safety is in everything that we do, so the tragedy in India, we don’t see that in any way, shape or form as a competitive input,” Christian Scherer, who oversees Airbus’s commercial aircraft operation,

Airbus SE predicted the global commercial aircraft fleet will double in size to almost 50,000 planes over the next 20 years, spurred by rapid growth in markets like India, where a rising middle class increasingly takes to air travel.

The top supply chain executive at planemaker Airbus , procurement chief Juergen Westermeier, has been appointed to run the group's operations in India and South Asia from Sept 1, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

The plane manufacturer said that the growth in air travel will require 43,400 new passenger and freighter aircraft deliveries over the next 20 years.

Speaking in Paris, Christian Scherer, Airbus’s head of commercial aircraft, dismissed any suggestion that the tragedy could offer a competitive advantage to one manufacturer over the other.

Air India, in its current form, has maintained a more balanced fleet, having taken delivery of 122 Boeing aircraft and 114 Airbus planes between 2006 and 2025