In a significant development for the aviation industry, IndiGo, India’s leading airlines, has unveiled plans to acquire 500 Airbus aircraft. With a list price of $55 billion, this deal marks the highest-ever civil aviation order and represents the largest single aircraft purchase made by any airline from Airbus. The financial specifics of the agreement have not been disclosed.
IndiGo’s latest order solidifies its position as the world’s largest customer of the A320 Family, with a total of 1,330 Airbus aircraft on order, according to a statement released by the airline. The exact composition of A320 and A321 aircraft, as well as the selection of engines, will be determined in due course.
The agreement was signed during the Paris Air Show 2023, with key representatives, including Rahul Bhatia, Promoter & Managing Director of IndiGo, Venkataramani Sumantran, Chairman and Non-Executive Independent Director of IndiGo, Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo, Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO, and Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of International.
IndiGo’s CEO Elbers emphasised the significance of this historic order, stating, “An order book now of almost 1000 aircraft well into the next decade enables IndiGo to fulfill its mission to continue to boost economic growth, social cohesion, and mobility in India.†He also expressed pride in being India’s preferred airline for connectivity and affirmed IndiGo’s belief in the growth of India and its strategic partnership with Airbus.
Scherer hailed the order as a milestone in the partnership between Airbus and IndiGo, further democratizing affordable air travel for millions of people in the world’s fastest-growing aviation market. He emphasized the A320 Family’s exceptional operating economics, which have fueled IndiGo’s growth over the past two decades.
In February of this year, Tata’s Air India placed an order for 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus, including 250 planes from Airbus, making it the largest-ever aircraft order in global aviation history at that time.
