Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo has placed a firm order with Airbus for 300 additional A320neo family aircraft, the two companies announced on Tuesday.
The new order, one of the largest in the aircraft manufacturer’s history, includes the Airbus types A320neo, A321neo and the newly-launched A321XLR (‘Extra Long Range’) for long-haul flights. It has not yet been announced how the orders will be split between the three types, nor when they would be delivered. IndiGo now has a total of 730 Airbus A320neo family aircraft on order, making it by far the world’s largest airline customer for the plane.
2005-founded IndiGo currently operates a fleet of almost 250 aircraft, consisting of 128 Airbus A320ceo, almost one hundred already delivered A320neo (including seven A321neo) and ATR 72-600 turboprop airplanes for regional flights.
India is among the fastest growing aviation markets in the world and IndiGo has managed to secure a strong presence, both in terms of current and future aircraft fleet and passenger capacities. In 2018, the low-cost carrier had a market share of 39.7% on domestic passenger traffic. Competitor Jet Airways came in second place at 15% over the past year, but ceased operations in April 2019, leaving even more growth potential for IndiGo and other carriers. During September, IndiGo had a market share of already more than 48% in total domestic passengers.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
