On the first day of the Paris Airshow, Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo placed an order for 500 narrowbody jets with Europe's Airbus, marking the largest-ever purchase of aircraft by a single airline.
As India's two largest airlines prepare for a dramatic increase in regional travel demand, the multibillion-dollar transaction surpasses Air India's joint purchase of 470 jets earlier this year.
Following months of discussions, IndiGo has placed an order for A320neo-family aircraft, as first noted by Reuters. Before the Le Bourget event, industry insiders claimed that a 500-plane contract was nearly finalized.
"This is just the beginning, there's more going forward. With the growth of India (and) the growth of the Indian aviation market ... this is the right time for us to place this order," IndiGo Chief Executive Pieter Elbers told a news conference.
Deliveries of the aircraft will take place between 2030 and 2035.
Although manufacturers are finding it difficult to reach output targets, efforts by Indian carriers to keep up with the world's fastest-growing aviation market, which serves the largest population, have caused records in the sector to fall.
According to a June 1 research by Barclays, Indian carriers currently have the second-largest order book, with an industry backlog of over 6%, only surpassed by American carriers.
Analysts, however, are worried that airlines may be purchasing too many planes to carry the same customers.
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.
The mid-decade target for Airbus has been delayed to 2026 because of difficulties in rebuilding production following the epidemic, although Faury claimed that supply disruption was only a short-term concern in comparison to delivery timetables beginning in the following decade.
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