Airbus’ Largest Single Order Announcement Becomes Firm

Airbus has finalized agreements with Indigo Partners and its four portfolio airlines for the purchase of 430 additional A320neo Family aircraft for ultra-low-cost airlines Frontier Airlines (United States), JetSMART (Chile), Volaris (Mexico) and Wizz Air (Hungary).  The signed purchase agreement follows a Memorandum of Understanding among the parties announced at the Dubai Air Show last month.

The 430-aircraft order is made up of 274 A320neos and 156 A321neos worth $49.5 billion at list prices. Airlines in the Indigo Partners family had previous placed orders for a total of 427 A320 Family aircraft.

“These customer-friendly and efficient A320neo Family aircraft form a great platform for continued growth for our family of ultra-low-cost airlines,” said Bill Franke, Managing Partner of Indigo Partners. “The Indigo Partners team looks forward to creating even more value for even more passengers around the world with these modern and efficient aircraft.”

"Bill Franke and the teams from Wizz, Volaris, JetSMART and Frontier are great partners, and the global Airbus team is very proud to continue to meet their growing needs for aircraft that provide value, reliability and comfort," said John Leahy, Airbus’ Chief Operating Officer, Customers. "The A320neo Family offers the lowest operating costs, longest range and most spacious cabin in the single-aisle aircraft market, making the ‘NEO’ a great choice for these low-cost airlines in the Americas and Europe.”

The aircraft are a mix of A320neos and A321neos and will be delivered to the individual airlines as follows:

• Wizz - 72 A320neo, 74 A321neo
• Frontier - 100 A320neo, 34 A321neo
• JetSMART - 56 A320neo, 14 A321neo
• Volaris - 46 A320neo, 34 A321neo

Indigo Partners’ Franke indicated that engine selections will be made at a later date.

(Image provided with Airbus news release)

FI: www.airbus.com