Indigenous manufacturing takes centre stage at Wings India 2026, Hyderabad firm puts regional aircraft on show

Indigenous manufacturing shines at Wings India 2026, showcasing the IL-114-300 regional aircraft and boosting India's aerospace ambitions.

As visitors walked through the static display at Wings India 2026, their gaze moved instinctively along a familiar line-up of commercial aircraft bearing the liveries of Indian and international airlines, manufactured by global giants such as Boeing and Airbus. Amid these familiar metallic whites and blues, an aircraft prompted a second look. Parked confidently among the fleet was the IL-114-300, a regional turboprop that embodied the exhibition’s strongest message this year, that aircraft manufacturing in India is no longer a distant ambition.

Indigenous manufacturing emerged as a defining theme of the biennial aviation show, visible not only in policy discussions and exhibition halls, but on the tarmac itself. The presence of the 68-seater IL-114-300 in the static display drew sustained attention from airline executives, component suppliers and aviation professionals, many of whom stepped inside to examine what could soon become a familiar sight at regional airports across the country.

The aircraft, developed by United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), is at the centre of a phased manufacturing programme that will see India move steadily up the aircraft production value chain. Hyderabad-based Flamingo Aerospace Private Limited has signed a purchase agreement with UAC for six IL-114-300 aircraft, with deliveries planned by 2028.

“This is a phased aircraft programme. In the first stage, a green aircraft, the bare airframe without interiors, will be procured from UAC and completely assembled in India. The entire interiors, seats, cabin storage, lavatories, will be fitted here before induction into airline fleets,” said Subhakar Pappula, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Flamingo Aerospace.

Standing beneath the wing, painted in a deep blue that contrasted sharply with the grey tarmac, Pappula described the project as a deliberate step towards building domestic capability rather than a one-off procurement. The programme will move next into maintenance, repair and overhaul operations (MRO), followed eventually by a complete assembly line in India. The long-term objective, he said, is full aircraft manufacturing, creating jobs and strengthening the local aerospace supply chain.

Flamingo Aerospace is currently evaluating multiple locations in southern India to establish the assembly line, a move that would place the company among the first in the country to manufacture a commercial aircraft domestically.