IndiGo Firms Up 250 Jet Order From Airbus

IndiGo has agreed the purchase of 250 Airbus A320neo aircraft, handing the European company its largest-ever order by number of planes in a deal worth USD$26.55 billion at list prices.

The agreement confirms an earlier provisional order by IndiGo for the 250 narrow-body jets announced in October. Budget airline IndiGo has now ordered 530 A320-family planes.

The latest deal helps extend Airbus's lead against Boeing in orders for the fast-growing upgraded narrow-body aircraft segment.

IndiGo will start taking delivery of the new Airbus planes from 2018 until 2026. As with previous orders, Indigo will perform sale and leaseback transactions on the majority of the aircraft bought from Airbus.

The deal makes IndiGo the largest airline customer for the Airbus A320-family of aircraft. Other large A320 customers include low-cost carriers such as Malaysia's AirAsia and Indonesia's Lion Air.

It is also the second-largest order by value for Airbus.

Founded in 2006 by travel entrepreneur Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal, a former chief executive of US Airways, IndiGo has placed a series of aggressive orders for Airbus jets as it tries to win a bigger share of India's fast-growing aviation market.

India is forecast by IATA to become the third-largest around 2031 as millions start flying for the first time.

IndiGo flies one in three of India's flyers. Its owner, InterGlobe Aviation, filed in June a draft prospectus for an initial public offering. It had said in the prospectus that the terms of the 250 aircraft order had expired, raising concerns about the deal.