Artist’s impression of Air India’s Airbus fleet. Airbus
DECRYPTION – Air India signs the largest contract in the history of commercial aeronautics, buying nearly 500 new planes, including 250 Airbus, for some 100 billion dollars.
Almost a boomerang effect. After the trough of 2020, a black year for aeronautics in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, marked by 452 new aircraft orders accumulated by Airbus and Boeing (a low water level close to that of 2009, after the subprime crisis), a wave of giant contracts has been sweeping the market for several months. As shown by the acquisition of nearly 470 aircraft by Air India, for a sum varying between 70 and 90 billion dollars (at the list price). In volume, as in value, it is the largest acquisition in the history of commercial aviation.
Read alsoAir India places giant aircraft order worth $100 billion
The last XXL order placed by a company with the two manufacturers dates back to 2011: American Airlines had purchased 460 medium-haul aircraft, including 260 Airbus A320s and 200 Boeing 737s, for 38 billion.
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