IndiGo places order for 500 Airbus aircraft, largest in aviation history

India’s largest domestic airline IndiGo has placed an order for 500 Airbus A320 neo family aircraft, the largest single deal in aviation history. The aircraft deal is worth $50 billion at the list price.

Before the IndiGo deal with Airbus, Air India’s order for 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus was the largest so far by a single airline. In February this year, Air India, the nation’s largest international and second-largest domestic airline, announced plans to purchase a combined total of 470 passenger jets from Boeing and Airbus. It includes 220 aircraft from Boeing worth $34 billion and 250 aircraft from Airbus.

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The latest order by IndiGo will allow the airline an additional regular flow of supplies between 2030 and 2035. This is not only IndiGo’s biggest order but also the largest single aircraft acquisition by any airline with Airbus. The engine selection for this order and the exact mix of A320 and A321 aircraft will be completed in due course, a press statement from IndiGo said on Monday (June 19).

IndiGo now flies over 300 aircraft and has 480 aircraft on order that will be delivered between now and the end of the decade. With this further solid order of 500 aircraft for 2030-2035, IndiGo’s order book now stands at nearly 1,000 aircraft to be delivered over the next decade. This IndiGo order book includes A320NEO, A321NEO, and A321XLR aircraft. With this new purchase, IndiGo has placed a total of 1,330 orders with Airbus since its beginning in 2006. The airline expects to onboard 100 million passengers this year.

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The purchase agreement was signed on Monday at the Paris Air Show 2023 in the presence of V Sumantran, IndiGo’s chairman of the board; Pieter Elbers, IndiGo’s CEO; Guillaume Faury, Airbus’ CEO, and Christian Scherer, Airbus’ chief commercial officer and head of International.

Pieter said, “It is difficult to overstate the significance of IndiGo’s new historic order for 500 Airbus A320 family aircraft. An order book now of almost 1,000 aircraft well into the next decade enables IndiGo to fulfil its mission to continue to boost economic growth, social cohesion and mobility in India. At IndiGo, we take pride in being India’s preferred airline for connectivity in and with India; and, by doing so, being one of the leading airlines in the world. This order strongly reaffirms IndiGo’s belief in the growth of India, in the A320 Family and in our strategic partnership with Airbus.”

Also read: Air India’s mega aircraft order could change India’s aviation dynamics