Budget carrier IndiGo on Monday announced that it has placed a record order to buy 500 A320 aircraft from French aerospace company Airbus. In February this year, Tata’s Air India placed an order to buy 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus. Air India placed an order for 250 planes from Airbus. 

Today, IndiGo in a statement said: “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. 

Currently, 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 1000 aircraft yet to be delivered well into the next
decade,” the airline said.

This IndiGo order book comprises a mix of A320NEO, A321NEO, and A321XLR aircraft, the company said, adding that this new order will bring the strategic relationship between IndiGo and Airbus to “an unprecedented depth and breadth”.

With this new order, since its inception in 2006, IndiGo has ordered a massive total of 1,330 aircraft with Airbus. “The fuel-efficient A320NEO Family aircraft will allow IndiGo to maintain its strong focus on lowering operating costs and delivering fuel efficiency with high standards of reliability,” the budget carrier said. 

This year, IndiGo said, it expects to welcome 100 million customers on board and as such literally giving wings to the nation. IndiGo is amongst the fastest-growing airlines in the world and this order will allow it to
continue this growth for many years to come.