Indian low-cost airline IndiGo has ordered 500 Airbus A320 aircraft. By volume, this is the largest contract ever concluded in civil aviation. The contract represents a theoretical list price of 55 billion dollars.

The aircraft are to be delivered between 2030 and 2035. And Walloon aviation company Sonaca also sings the “largest contract in its history” with Airbus. Both contracts were signed at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget.

Bigger order than Air India

The Paris Air Show is traditionally marked by mega orders, but the type of order IndiGo, the largest airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, has now done is nevertheless unprecedented.

It is the largest order in history ever for a single aircraft type. By this purchase, it is eclipsing Air India’s recent order for 470 planes, worth 70 billion dollars in terms of the number of planes (including 250 Airbus and 220 Boeing).

Growing market

An explosion in air travel is expected in India, just as it was in China a few years ago. IndiGo, led by former KLM boss Pieter Elbers, would soon order 25 long-haul Boeing 787 or Airbus A350. Elbers also points out that India has only 0,5 aircraft per million population, compared with 3,1 in China, 15 in the European Union, and 30 in the United States.

India is expected to have a population of more than 1,7 billion by 2050, compared to 1,42 billion now but above all, the youngness of the population, the fact that a growing middle class now can afford to buy a plane ticket and the still weak local supply makes the aircraft sector dream of more.

International expansion

With this mega order of 500 aircraft, IndiGo comes to a total of 1 230 aircraft, not counting previous-generation aircraft or future long-haul aircraft. That is more than the three global giants in the sector, Delta, American, and United (900 aircraft each).

For now, IndiGo controls 50% of the Indian market operating well over 1 800 daily flights. It also has plans to expand its international offer. Between June and September 2023, it adds 174 new weekly international flights, catering to the rising demand for international travel from, to, and via India.

Quarter less fuel consumption

According to Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury, the company currently sits at a production rate of 75 A320 NEO aircraft per month. Airbus has 10 assembly lines, including two in Tianjin, but in engineering, the company employs more workers in India than in China. Airbus India Engineering Bengaluru, for example, has more than 700 engineers.

The A320 is generally considered the youngest and most fuel-efficient medium-haul aircraft on the market with a 25% reduction in fuel consumption and, therefore, CO2 emissions.

Sonaca too may uncork champagne

Walloon aerospace company Sonaca also signed the “biggest contract in its history” with Airbus at Le Bourget. Sonaca will become the official supplier of the flaps of the Airbus A321XLR, and its historically entrenched contribution to the supply of the flaps of the A320 and A350 will be extended.

The A321XLR is the aircraft maker’s new single-aisle long-haul aircraft. The components for that aircraft will be produced by Sonaca at three of its main sites, domestically (in Gosselies), in Brazil, and in Romania. A good 160 staff will be involved in construction.

Airbus is already the big winner in the battle for orders at Le Bourget, with 533 aircraft sold, including 30 A320 NEO to Saudi Arabia’s Flans and 3 A 350s to Air Mauritius. Some 83 Belgian exhibitors, including 53 from Wallonia, are present at Le Bourget.