IndiGo close to signing mega deal for buying 500 Airbus planes

India’s largest airline IndiGo is close to striking a deal for buying 500 narrow-body A320 aircraft from European planemaker Airbus,  according to a Reuters report.

If the deal comes through it will pip Air India’s mega order for purchasing 470 jets from Airbus in February.The IndiGo order could work out to around $25 billion after factoring in discounts that usually go with such bulk deals, the report said.

IndiGo was also engaged in talks for Boeing 787 wide-body jets which compete with Airbus.

IndiGo Chief Executive Pieter Elbers, attending the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association in Istanbul, declined to comment on commercial matters.

Reuters first reported in March that IndiGo, which has a 56% share of the domestic Indian market, was in talks with both Airbus and Boeing for the order, which if confirmed would be the largest by a single airline ranked by the number of units.

IndiGo, which has a 56% share in the domestic Indian market, is already one of Airbus’s largest customers with an order of 830 Airbus A320 jets of which around 500 are still to be delivered.

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

India has emerged as the world’s third-largest aviation market with a strong resurgence in air traffic after the Covid-19 slump.

IndiGo has ambitious plans of doubling its capacity by 2030 and is for the first time looking at buying wide-body planes as well to expand its international operations.