Indian Air-Carrier Commits to 500 A320 Family Jets

On 19 June 2023, Airbus announced IndiGo had placed a firm order for a staggering five-hundred A320 narrow-body airliners—thereby setting the record for the largest single-purchase agreement in commercial aviation’s 109-year history.

IndiGo—formally, InterGlobe Aviation Limited doing business as IndiGo—is an Indian low-cost airline headquartered in New Delhi. Commanding a 57.5-percent share of its homeland’s domestic air-travel market—IndiGo is India’s largest airline by the metrics of passengers carried and fleet size.

To date, IndiGo has ordered 1,330 Airbus aircraft—in so doing earning the distinction of being the world’s largest operator of A320 family jets.

The historic purchase agreement was signed at 2023’s Paris Air-Show by IndiGo promoter and managing director Rahul Bhatia, IndiGo chairman and non-executive independent director Dr. Venkataramani Sumantran, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury, and Airbus chief commercial officer and head of international Christian Scherer.

Mr. Elbers set forth on behalf of IndiGo: “It is difficult to overstate the significance of IndiGo’s new historic order for five-hundred Airbus A320 family aircraft. An order book now of almost one-thousand aircraft well into the next decade, enables IndiGo to fulfill 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.”

Airbus’s Mr. Scherer stated: “This landmark order marks a new chapter in Airbus and IndiGo’s relationship that is democratizing affordable air travel for millions of people in the world’s fastest growing aviation market. It is also a resounding endorsement of the A320 family’s best-in-class operating economics that have been powering IndiGo’s growth for almost two-decades. We cherish our long-standing relationship with IndiGo and are proud of our success together. We look forward to contributing to the growth of India’s air connectivity in its domestic network and into international markets through the expansion of this formidable partnership.”

Since its first specimen of the aircraft was delivered in March 2016, IndiGo’s fleet of A320neo family aircraft has grown to include 162 A320neo, 79 A321neo, 21 A320ceo, and two A321 freighters. IndiGo’s partnership with airbus spans 18-years and comprises a 2005 order for one-hundred A320 family aircraft, a 2011 order for 180 A320 family jets—to include NEO models, a 2014 order for 250 A320neo family airliners, and a 2019 order for three-hundred additional A320neo aircraft.  

Over the last two decades—as India’s economy has expanded and its citizens’ disposable incomes have commensurately increased—Airbus’s A320neo has been instrumental in democratizing air travel across the subcontinent.

FMI: www.goindigo.in