By Leandro Maldonado
A color rendition of one of IndiGo airline’s A320neo single aisle airliner. The low-cost commercial company IndiGo has become India’s largest aerotransporter in less than a decade. ©Airbus
17 August 2015, Toulouse, France — India’s largest domestic airline (by market share) IndiGo celebrated their ninth birthday by firming up their last year’s commitment and going through with an order for 250 A320neo Family aircraft. This historical aircraft purchase agreement was signed on the 69th Independence Day of India on the 15th of August, 2015, boosting Airbus’ firm backlog for its leading single aisle airliner well beyond the 4,000 aircraft mark!
IndiGo placed a first order in 2005 for one hundred A320s which have all now been delivered. In 2011 IndiGo became the first Indian operator to commit to the A320neo bringing their total to 280 Airbus aircraft. With today’s announcement, IndiGo has ordered a grand total of 530 A320 aircraft with Airbus.
“It fills us with pride that IndiGo, India’s largest airline and one of the early launch customers for the A320neo, is coming back for more of our benchmark aircraft. This order confirms the A320 Family as the airliner of choice in the most dynamic aviation growth markets. We thank IndiGo and its Co-Founders, Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia for their tremendous vote of confidence,” said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers. Aditya Ghosh, President of IndiGo said, “This new order further reaffirms IndiGo’s commitment to the long-term development of affordable air transportation in India and overseas. The additional fuel efficient A320neo aircraft will enable us to continue to bring our low fares and courteous, hassle free service to more customers and markets and will create more job opportunities and growth. The IndiGo team is even more energised and excited than ever before to herald this new phase of our growth for many years to come.”
Let’s reminisce that the A320neo “new engine option” incorporates many innovations, including latest generation engines and large Sharklet wing-tip devices, which together deliver 15 percent in fuel savings from day one and 20 per cent by 2020. This is equivalent to a reduction of 5,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per aircraft per year.
The A320 Family is today the world’s best-selling single aisle product line with over 11,800 orders to date and more than 6,600 aircraft delivered to 400 customers and operators worldwide. With this order the A320neo order backlog is catapulted to over 4100 aircraft, clearly underpinning its market leading position. Thanks to its widest cabin, all members of the A320 Family offer the industry’s best level of comfort in all classes and Airbus’ 18” wide seats in economy as standard.
