New Delhi: IndiGo, India’s largest airline, has placed the largest order for aircraft in the country’s aviation history on Monday. The airline board approved an order of 500 Airbus A320 Neo family aircraft on Monday.
The order consists of A320Neo, A321Neo, and A321 XLR planes, the report mentioned. “This will provide the airline further steady stream of deliveries between 2030 and 2035. This 500 aircraft order is not only IndiGo’s largest order, but also the largest-ever single aircraft purchase by any airline with Airbus,” a statement from the airline read.
The value of the order, at the list price of these aircraft, is around $500 billion, but the actual value is expected to be smaller as large orders enjoy heavy discounts, according to the Economic Times.
IndiGo’s order is bigger than Air India’s order of 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing placed in March. The report pointed out that IndiGo also has a pending delivery of 477 aircraft from the A320 family by 2030. “The airline wants to ensure delivery slots so that fleet size remains steady. It will retire around 100 aircraft by 2030 and needs fresh planes to maintain the targeted fleet size of over 700 in the coming decade,” a source aware of the development told the ET.
IndiGo accounts for around 60 per cent of India’s domestic aviation market share.
Of the 500 planes in the order, 300 are reported to be A321Neo and A321 XLR aircraft. These planes can operate flights for up to eight hours and will be an important part of the airline’s plan to expand in Europe.
A source aware of the developments said that Boeing had also made a strong pitch to the airline for its 737 Max aircraft, but Indigo is likely to go with A320Neo to ensure fleet commonality. This is among the most important factors in the airline maintaining low unit costs. The airline is now in direct competition with Tata Group-owned Air India, which is also aggressively working on improving its services and modernising its fleet.
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