IndiGo places bumper order for 500 Airbus aircraft at Paris Air Show

The Paris Air show is special for IndiGo, as it was here that the airline placed its first order for 100 aircraft in 2005, the deliveries for which continued till 2014.

IndiGo today placed a record order for 500 Airbus aircraft, comprising the A320neo, A321neo, A321LR, and A321XLR. This comes four months after Air India, under the Tata group, ordered 470 aircraft, in what was then the largest order in aviation history. Air India’s order comprised 250 Airbus aircraft and 220 Boeings.

This order sets two records. This is the largest order ever, and also the largest order ever for Airbus. Prior to this, the airline’s largest order with Airbus was for 300 aircraft in 2019.

The Paris Air show is special for IndiGo, as it was here that the airline placed its first order for 100 aircraft in 2005, the deliveries for which continued till 2014.

The order history of IndiGo

Even before the 100th aircraft from the initial order landed in Delhi, IndiGo had placed an order for 180 Airbus aircraft in 2011, in what was another record order by the airline. This was followed by another order in 2015, when it signed up for 250 A320neo aircraft, and another one for 300 Airbus planes in October 2019. The airline had placed an order for 50 ATR aircraft in May 2017.

The deal size has gone up with every order as the new orders cater to replacement as well as expansion.

As of end-May 2023, the airline has 477 A320neo-family aircraft on order, a majority of which (305) are the A321s (comprising the A321neo and the A321XLR) which are slated for induction at the end of 2024 or early 2025.

To tide over the delay in deliveries and the groundings, the airline has taken widebody aircraft on damp lease, and also extended the lease of some of its aircraft, including that of the A320ceos, which consume 10 to 15 percent more fuel than the A320neo.

The present order

Airbus and IndiGo announced the mega on the very first day of the Paris Air Show.

The deliveries are slated to begin in 2030 and will continue till 2035. The 477 pending deliveries will take up to 2029, when the airline will possibly cross the 500 active aircraft mark.

IndiGo took 113 months to reach 100 aircraft in its fleet, but took only 46 more to add the next 150 aircraft. With a focus on fleet renewal, the next 50 took 36 months as the active fleet crossed the 300 aircraft mark in January this year.

IndiGo, Airbus’ marquee client

For Airbus, the opportunity in Asia Pacific was largely driven by AirAsia Bhd, the Kuala Lumpur-headquartered group which extended its successful model to Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, and other countries. The poster boy is nowhere close to IndiGo now, with the Indian airline operating more aircraft than the entire AirAsia group put together.

To get planes in 2029 and beyond, IndiGo had to place an order now, with the A320-family production line running out of slots even with envisioned capacity augmentation by Airbus.

It is staggering that Airbus intends to up its production rate to 75 aircraft a month or 900 A320-family aircraft per year more than the entire commercial fleet in India put together.