The largest single purchase agreement by any airline in commercial aviation history, Indian carrier IndiGo has placed a record order for 500 Airbus A320 aircraft.
The deal, which was revealed on the opening day of the Paris Airshow, is estimated to be worth $55 billion before any discounts for large orders.
With Airbus, IndiGo currently has 1,330 aircraft on order.
As a result, there will be a steady stream of deliveries between 2030 and 2035.
Budget airline IndiGo says the new deliveries will help it reduce operating expenses and increase fuel efficiency.
The aviation market in India is expanding quickly. Earlier this year, IndiGo's competitor Air India made waves in the industry by placing its own order for 470 aircraft from both Airbus and Boeing. Tata Group, an Indian company, announced an order for 250 Airbus aircraft in February.
In the wake of the pandemic, this latest deal demonstrates that confidence is returning to the airline industry, and this order from the low-cost carrier is a declaration of ambition from one of the world's fastest-growing airlines.
Recently, significant aircraft orders have also been placed by Ryanair and the Saudi startup Riyadh Air. Airlines now appear eager to invest in new aircraft, but manufacturers are finding it difficult to produce them quickly due to supply chain disruptions caused by the Covid shutdowns.
While this order at the Paris Airshow may be the most dramatic so far, it is not likely to be the last. The airline industry came to a complete standstill during the pandemic, but carriers are now making up for lost time by updating their fleets and, in some cases, aggressively expanding as well.
