IndiGo order 2nd largest for company: Airbus India

Q: I just want to start by understanding in terms of number of planes as the release told us this is probably the biggest order for Airbus. What about in terms of value at around USD 26 billion odd?

A: At USD 26.5 billion it is still a pretty big order but we have had large order from Emirates. So you can imagine that the A380 seating up to 550 passengers and being much larger aircraft that in fact ended being the largest order in terms of value but still we are very excited about the order from Indigo with 250 airplanes plus the airplanes that we have in backlog with 180 A320 Neos they ordered at the launch of the aircraft plus of course the 100 that they have already taken that puts them as the largest A320 operator for the future and we are very proud to be the supplier of the aircraft to Indigo, we are very proud that they have such an impact on Indian aviation market. It is a market which is growing at 8-9 percent per annum over the next 20 years and we can see that Indigo will have a very bright future going forward.

Q: In fact talking about the growth and the market Boeing the other day released a forecast talking about how the Indian market will probably absorb over 1,700 planes, they had upped their guidance over next 20 years or so. Do you at Airbus also share that enthusiasm about the Indian market and the sort of business opportunities that you are looking at. There are reports suggesting that there could be another big aircraft deal with SpiceJet in the offing?

A: Well we look at the Indian market at lot more optimistically than Boeing. We have about the same number of airplanes in terms of our forecast for the next 20 years but they stormed the in-service fleet and the backlog of the aircraft that we have, compared to that of Boeing we are pretty much close to 80 percent market share. So, going forward over that 1700 airplanes at least 80 percent of them should be from Airbus.

Q: What about the possibility of another big order with SpiceJet. That is an airline which is in transition. It has seen a management change and is sort of getting its focus back on track. Is there something that we could be hearing there?

A: SpiceJet is also very good airline. We were very sad that we lost that deal many years ago but we are very pleased to be given the opportunity once again to try and get back into the SpiceJet fleet. So, yes, we are talking to them, but it is early days yet.

Q: I just wanted to get your attention on certain issues above and beyond these orders. Earlier when Prime Minister Modi made that trip to France and he went to the Airbus facility there was a lot of talk and hope of stepping up manufacturing here in India for airbus to do that as well as stepping up sourcing to a figure of almost USD 2 billion. That was one of the figures that was floating around at that point. Now that we are a couple of months down into the year if you could shed some light on those plants for specific manufacturing in India as well as increasing sourcing from India?

A: We already do a lot of manufacturing in India and as we step up the production of A320 so do we step up the sourcing from India because the passenger doors for the A320 are made in India, made by Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). The Flap track fairings i.e. the device on the wing that is extended during take offs and landings, the fairings for that is made by Dynamatic Technologies Limited down in Bangalore and we do a lot of our own engineering of the aircraft is done in India too.