On the first day of the Paris Airshow, Europe’s Airbus revealed the largest airplane purchase in history: IndiGo, an Indian low-cost carrier, had ordered 500 narrowbody planes.
As India’s two major airlines prepare for a dramatic increase in demand for regional travel, the multibillion-dollar contract surpasses Air India’s preliminary purchase of 470 planes earlier this year as the largest ever by number of aircraft.
“There is more to come; this is only the beginning. The best moment to place this purchase is now, according to IndiGo Chief Executive Pieter Elbers, given the expansion of India and the Indian aviation business.
Deliveries of the aircraft will take place between 2030 and 2035.
Even while manufacturers are finding it difficult to fulfill output targets, Indian carriers’ efforts to keep up with the world’s fastest-growing aviation market—which serves the biggest population—have broken previous records in the sector.
According to a June 1 research by Barclays, Indian carriers now have the second-largest order book, with over 6% of the industry’s backlog, behind only the United States.
However, some analysts are worried that airlines could be acquiring too many planes to compete for the same passengers.
Guillaume Faury, CEO of Airbus, stated after the IndiGo agreement was signed that it was too soon to consider producing more narrowbody aircraft than the anticipated 75 per month.
It was generally anticipated that IndiGo, which holds close to 60% of the local Indian market, will continue to purchase single-aisle aircraft from Airbus in order to further benefit from economies of scale.
It is still in separate discussions with both Boeing and Airbus for 25 widebody aircraft, which might either be Boeing 787s or Airbus A330neos, according to sources