Five years after it surprised many by placing a sweeping 100 aircraft order in one go, the country’s largest low-fare carrier IndiGo on Wednesday said it was placing an order for another 180 Airbus A320 aircraft order, the largest single order by volume in commercial aviation history and valued at about $14 billion at list prices. India’s scheduled airlines like Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, SpiceJet and GoAir put together have a fleet of 419 aircraft currently and is the ninth largest aviation market in the world expected to continue growing in double digits over through the decade.
IndiGo, run by InterGlobe Aviation Pvt Ltd, has bought 180 Airbus A320 aircraft of which 150 will be the A320neo and 30 standard A320s. The A320neo is the new fuel-efficient version of Airbus A320 which will be launched in 2016. IndiGo also becomes the launch customer of Airbus A320neo aircraft with this deal and will select an engine soon. The 180 airplanes are expected to be delivered between 2016 and 2025.
The big ticket order was announced by the firm after a signing of memorandum of understanding in France’s Toulouse, the headquarters of European manufacturer Airbus SAS, between IndiGo’s owners Rahul Bhatia, Rakesh Gangwal and Airbus COO John Leahy. ”Ordering more A320s was the natural choice to meet India’s growing flying needs. The opportunity to reduce costs and to further improve our environmental performance through the A320neo were key to our decision,” Bhatia and Gangwal said in a joint statement released from Toulouse.
Leahy said, “This order positions IndiGo to take full advantage of the predicted growth in Indian air travel and we are delighted that they continue to build their future with Airbus.” The airline early last year had sought civil aviation ministry’s approval for an order of 150 aircraft, as Mint reported on April 28th quoting a letter it had written to the ministry. IndiGo’s request “for import/acquisition of an additional 150 aircraft for scheduled air transport,” was cleared by the government soon after.
IndiGo which flies 34 Airbus A320 aircraft currently will induct a dozen this year from its previous order. It will fly international from August this year and has appointed bankers to look into listing at the stock exchange.
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