Le Bourget (France), (EFE).- The European aeronautical manufacturer Airbus formalized on Monday a record sale of 500 single-aisle A320 family aircraft with the low-cost Indian company IndiGo, both parties reported during a press conference.
The contract, the most important in terms of the number of aircraft in the history of aviation but not its value, was signed during the first day of the Le Bourget Air Show, on the outskirts of Paris.
It anticipates delivery of those 500 planes between 2030 and 2035. Before that, Airbus should place another 480 in IndiGo’s hands from two previous sales.
Neither the chief executive of Airbus, Guillaume Faury, nor that of the Indian airline, Pieter Elbers, detailed the amount of the transaction.
Order of 1,330 aircraft
Elbers recalled that, if the orders that his company has previously placed with the European manufacturer are included, they have ordered a total of 1,330 aircraft, making IndiGo their first customer.
His company has not yet decided how many of those aircraft will be the A320 model and which will be the A321, the highest capacity of this single-aisle family. And neither what engines will you choose for propulsion.
IndiGo has experienced tremendous growth in its fleet. It took delivery of its first Airbus in March 2016 and now operates 264 of its aircraft, all of the single-aisle A320 family.
The commercial manager of Airbus, Christian Scherer, highlighted that this contract “symbolizes the enormous potential that the Indian market represents”.
In that regard, there were several questions from journalists directed at Faury as to why Airbus has not decided to set up an assembly plant for the A320 Family in India, and his answers were rather evasive.
Ten manufacturing lines in 2026
On the one hand, he insisted that Airbus has decided to expand its current capabilities, so that by 2026 it will have a total of ten manufacturing lines at its factories in Toulouse (France), Hamburg (Germany), Mobile (United States) and Tianjin (China).
Thanks to these ten assembly lines, he recalled, the goal is to go up to a production rate of 65 A320 family aircraft per month in 2024 (compared to around 55 currently) and to 75 per month in 2026, when all of them are in service. The abilities.
On the other hand, he justified the expansion of production capacities in China, because that country alone represents 20% of the world demand for aircraft, and that is the percentage of manufacturing that Airbus will have there within three years.
He added that in a group like his, the activity is not confined to the assembly of airplanes, as evidenced by the fact that the workforce they have in India is larger than that in China.
Airbus also announced on this first day of Le Bourget, the most important aeronautical fair in the world, the signing of a second order for 30 A320neo family aircraft for the Saudi company Flynas and three units of the A350 model for Air Mauritius.