Over 1,000 Aircraft In Indigo's Airbus Shopping Cart

IndiGo has ordered a record 500 A320 airliners from European manufacturer Airbus in a huge aviation deal. The deal is the largest ever civil aviation order and a "historic" step for both companies, IndiGo chief Pieter Elbers said.

The low-cost carrier has over 300 aircraft and previous orders totalling 480 aircraft which are yet to be delivered by the end of this decade. With this additional firm order of 500 aircraft, IndiGo's order book has nearly 1.000 aircraft yet to be delivered well into the next decade.  The contract also makes IndiGo Airbus' largest customer for the A320 family, as it races to expand with demand in India.

The aircraft will be delivered between 2030 and 2035.

IndiGo, since its inception in 2006, has ordered a massive total of 1.330 aircraft with Airbus, it said in a statement.

The no-frills carrier is one of the largest for internal flights in India, which was the world's fastest-growing air passenger market before the coronavirus pandemic.

Efforts by Indian carriers to keep pace with the world's fastest-growing aviation market have sent industry records tumbling even though manufacturers are struggling to meet output goals.

Indian carriers now have the second-largest order book, with an over 6% share of the industry backlog, behind only the United States, according to a June 1 report by Barclays.