IndiGo orders 500 Airbus A320 aircraft; largest order in aviation history

IndiGo said on Monday that it has placed an order for 500 Airbus A320 Family aircraft on the first day of the Paris Airshow.

“This will provide IndiGo a 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. The engine selection for this order will be done in due course and so will be the exact mix of A320 and A321 aircraft,” the company said in a statement.

Today IndiGo operates over 300 aircraft and has previous orders totaling 480 aircraft which are yet to be delivered between today and the end of this decade. With this additional firm order of 500 aircraft for 2030-2035, IndiGo’s order-book has almost 1,000 aircraft yet to be delivered well into the next decade. This IndiGo order-book comprises a mix of A320NEO, A321NEO and A321XLR aircraft, the company said.

The companu further said that the evaluation of the offers was shared and discussed with IndiGo’s Board, and consequently endorsed. With this new order, since its inception in 2006, IndiGo has ordered a massive total of 1,330 aircraft with Airbus, according to the statement.

Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo, said, “It is difficult to overstate the significance of IndiGo’s new historic order for 500 Airbus A320 Family aircraft. An orderbook now of almost 1.000 aircraft well into the next decade, enables IndiGo to fulfill its mission to continue to boost economic growth, social cohesion and mobility in India. At IndiGo, we take pride in being India’s preferred airline for connectivity in and with India; and by doing so, being one of the leading airlines in the world. This order strongly reaffirms IndiGo’s belief in the growth of India, in the A320 Family and in our strategic partnership with Airbus.”