IndiGo to buy 250 Airbus A-320neo planes

Low-cost carrier IndiGo on Wednesday ordered 250 single-aisle ‘A-320neo’ planes from Airbus, the largest order in numbers for the European manufacturer that could fetch up to USD 25.7 billion or Rs 1.54 lakh crore.

The new order follows IndiGo’s order of 280 A-320s (100 A-320ceo and 180 A320neo) in the earlier years. The carrier, India’s aviation market leader and one of the first customers of the A-320neo planes, has 83 A-320s in operation at present. 

IndiGo’s co-founders Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia signed the Memorandum of Understanding for the purchase, at company headquarters in France’s Toulouse.
From India, GoAir has earlier inked a deal to buy 72 A-320neo.

Announcing the deal, IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh said the new order reaffirms the airline’s commitment to the long-term development of affordable air transportation in India and overseas.

“The additional aircraft will enable us to continue to bring our low fares and courteous, hassle-free service to more customers and markets and will create more job opportunities and growth. The IndiGo team is energisedand excited to herald this new phase of our growth,” Ghosh said.

Commenting on the deal, Airbus President and CEO Fabrice Bregier said the A320neo continues to dominate world market share and this commitment “confirms the A320 family as the aircraft of choice in the most dynamic aviation growth markets”.

Aviation analysts, who had anticipated such a deal, said it augurs well for the aviation industry in the country.

Though Airbus has revised the price for its products this January and the list price for a single A-320neo aircraft is USD 102.8 million, IndiGo may not end up paying the whole amount as the manufacturer may have offered discounts for the deal.

“Great news, indeed. The deal is a strong indicator of the long-term potential of the Indian civil aviation market, despite severe short-term challenges. We hope that given their stupendous success in India, Airbus may consider expanding their presence in India to MRO, component manufacturing and maybe, aircraft assembly one day, a la China”, Amber Dubey, partner and India head of aerospace and defence at global consultancy KPMG, told Deccan Herald.

Kapil Kaul, CEO of Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (South Asia), told Deccan Herald that this MOU would help in strengthening IndiGo’s perception of a solid long-term player but may not play on valuations as expected.