Airbus wins record order for 500 planes from India’s IndiGo

The deal was unveiled on the opening day of the Paris Air Show, the world’s largest event focusing on aviation and space industry

The order surpasses another mammoth agreement signed months earlier by Air India for 470 aircraft from both Airbus and US-based rival Boeing

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An IndiGo Airbus A320 aircraft prepares to land at Mumbai airport in January 2011. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:20am, 20 Jun 2023

India’s IndiGo airline is buying 500 passenger planes from European aviation giant Airbus, the two companies said on Monday, in a record-setting order that underscores surging demand for air travel fuelled by the country’s economic growth.

IndiGo, India’s dominant carrier, is buying the narrow-body A320 aircraft in what the companies said was the single biggest purchase agreement in commercial aviation history.

Executives from both companies announced the deal on the opening day of the Paris Air Show, the world’s largest event focusing on aviation and space industry. They did not disclose how much the order was worth, but it is likely to amount to tens of billions of dollars.

The order is “an enormous milestone”, IndiGo CEO Peter Elbers said at a press conference. “No one has ever ordered an order of this magnitude. And it speaks to the potential of Indian aviation and the ambitions which IndiGo is having.”

The purchase highlights how the two companies are “democratising affordable air travel for millions of people in the world’s fastest growing aviation market”, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer said in a statement.