Airbus To Confirm A350 Order

Airbus looks set to confirm the conversion of purchase rights to firm orders for its A350 aircraft.

Reporting driven by Economic Times suggests that Indian carrier IndiGo will significantly expand its long-haul fleet with the order of 40 more Airbus A350s.

The deal would see the commitment to the A350 increase from a firm standpoint to 100 units, a colossal increase that highlights the ambition present in the IndiGo business.

The internal belief at the airline is that, although strong deals have already been signed for the A350, there is a need to increase firm orders to meet the increased market demand.

India has long been recognised as one of the fastest-growing markets in the world. As a result, opportunities have presented themselves for operators such as IndiGo to capitalise on.

To meet the high levels of demand, adding more advanced aircraft to the backlog is necessary, especially as IndiGo has confirmed its intention to be recognised as a global airline moving forward, catering to the need for customers to return home or visit more locations worldwide.

Additionally, with the Tata Group investing in the rebuild of Air India, IndiGo is aware that this flag carrier, steeped in history, may struggle to cope with all the increases; therefore, the smaller operator has the opportunity to capture some of the market share.

Airbus To Support IndiGo

Airbus will play a crucial role in supporting IndiGo’s fleet and business development with the A350, the direct wide-body aircraft selected to enable this.

For the moment, IndiGo is utilising the 777 with thanks to Turkish Airlines and has signed a deal with Norse Atlantic Airways for the usage of Boeing 787s across medium to long-haul routes.

However, these are not viewed as long-term solutions and are considered internally as short- to medium-term solutions to increase capacity and bring widebody flying to customers in anticipation of the arrival of the A350.

As a result, Airbus will help power IndiGo’s operations for future decades with the A350s across medium to long-haul routes, but it will not strictly support these longer flights.

Airbus is also providing hundreds of new single-aisle aircraft to IndiGo, with a landmark purchase in 2023, marking one of the largest single orders ever placed by an airline in history for 500 A320neo family jets.

Thanks to this, the A350 and types such as the A321neo will enable fleet growth and renewal, allowing IndiGo to be seen in more corners of the globe than ever before.