PARIS-- Airbus Group is close to bagging its biggest single
order for commercial jetliners from India's IndiGo which is making
a 250-aircraft, $25.7 billion bet on a boom in air travel in the
world's second-most populated country.
IndiGo, a budget carrier which has become India's largest
airline by number of passengers transported, has signed a
memorandum of understanding for the order for A320neo planes,
Airbus said on Wednesday.
At list prices, the order would be worth $25.7 billion, but
plane manufacturers typically offer discounts to large customers
for bulk orders.
The giant order by IndiGo bucks the recent trend among some
Asian carriers to slow down the rate at which they have expanded to
capture growth in the Asian air travel market as living standards
rise across the region. Malaysia's AirAsia Bhd. and Singapore-based
Tiger Airways Holdings have recently deferred or canceled
orders.
Still, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to absorb much of the
demand for new passenger jets. In Airbus's latest industry
forecast, the largest number of planes, around 70% of the total to
be built over the next 20 years will be single-aisle jets such as
the Airbus A320 with demand in China and India for domestic flying
helping drive 37% of these deliveries to Asia-Pacific airlines.
The Indian airline's order is the biggest Airbus has received
since Indonesia" s Lion Group last year placed an order for 234
Airbus A320 planes, valued at a combined $22.4 billion at list
price.
The A320neo, a new version of the Airbus's popular single-aisle
A320 jets that includes a new engine and other devices to cut fuel
consumption, made its maiden flight in late September.
Airbus has sold more than 3,250 of the planes, beating the more
than 2,000 orders Boeing Co. has booked for its 737 Max, a similar
upgrade the Chicago-based plane maker is undertaking for its
best-selling single-aisle 737 jet.
The privately-held IndiGo is aggressively expanding to defend
its position as rival low-cost Asian carriers are seeking to tap
the rapidly growing Indian market.
IndiGo now has a fleet of 83 A320-200 single-aisle Airbus
planes. The carrier had previously placed orders for 280 Airbus
aircraft, a mix of different versions of the A320.
Privately held IndiGo, which is controlled by India's INterGlobe
Enterprise Ltd., currently flies to 31 cities in India and five
overseas, including Bangkok and Dubai.
Santanu Choudhury in New Delhi contributed to this article.
Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com
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