“This is a historic moment! », exclaimed with a touch of emotion Guillaume Faury, CEO of Airbus. It must be said that the European aircraft manufacturer had just created, on Monday June 19, the first big sensation of the 54e Le Bourget aeronautics and space show (Seine-Saint-Denis) with the announcement of a firm order for five hundred medium-haul A320s by the Indian low-cost airline IndiGo. A contract valued at more than 44 billion euros. “It’s a day I won’t forget”commented Christian Scherrer, commercial director of Airbus, a little moved too. “This is the largest order in aviation history” for a single type of aircraft, welcomed the boss of Airbus.
With this new contract, IndiGo becomes Airbus’ largest customer, with 1,330 A320 aircraft ordered or already delivered. Following to the letter the business model of low-cost airlines which favors a single type of aircraft, the most recent possible, to minimize the costs of maintenance and training of crews – pilots as cabin crew -, IndiGo n’ has ordered only Airbuses since its creation in 2006.
Even before this new contract, IndiGo has already taken the place of number one of the companies in India. On its own, with its fleet of three hundred aircraft, it already holds almost 40% of the Indian market share. The new order “is a very strong signal of the rise of the Indian market, particularly domestically”said Scherrer. “The Indian market is one of the fastest. It will become the third largest economy in the world and this is just the beginning”exclaimed Pieter Elbers, former chief executive of KLM and now CEO of IndiGo. The leader was referring to India’s growing population, which has passed the 1.4 billion mark.
Sixty-five planes per month in 2024…
With Pieters Elbers at the helm, IndiGo wants to go fast. “The company will double in size by the end of the decade”, said the ex-boss of KLM. Above all, he adds: “This order helps us plan our development. » In practice, the first aircraft of this order will begin to be delivered only from 2030 and until 2035. It is only from the reception of the first copy that IndiGo will specify its choices between the A320 Neo and the various A321 Neo models, in particular the XLR version. One that allows companies to operate long-haul destinations with a medium-haul. Airbus is well aware that“in the short term, his challenge is to increase the pace”, agrees Mr. Faury. In order not to break its chain of suppliers, Airbus must gradually increase its production rate. It plans to roll off its assembly lines 65 units per month in 2024 and then 75 aircraft per month in 2026. Ultimately, said the CEO of Airbus, the objective is to produce around “4,500 aircraft between 2030 and 2035”. Mr. Faury is sure of his fact: “We are not overbooked for the next decade. » The aircraft manufacturer can therefore take new orders.
You have 27.93% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.