Airbus is closing towards a potentially record deal to sell 500 narrow-body A320-family jets to India’s largest carrier IndiGo, industry sources said. The deal would be worth $50 billion at the most recently published Airbus list prices, but would typically be worth less than half this after widespread airline industry discounts for bulk deals.
Airbus and Boeing are also still competing in separate talks to sell 25 A330neo or Boeing 787 wide-body jets to the same airline. IndiGo Chief Executive Pieter Elbers declined to comment on commercial matters. Airbus and Boeing have been racking up billions of dollars of new orders stretching beyond 2030 as airlines lock in supplies ahead of shortages.
Turkish Airlines had taken the spotlight before the IATA meeting with a surprise announcement that it could order 600 jets, but there were few signs of an immediate deal. Indian carriers now have the second-largest order book, but some analysts have expressed concern that airlines could be over-ordering jets in pursuit of the same passengers.
IndiGo has a codeshare partnership with seven carriers, including Turkish Airlines, American Airlines, and KLM, and has begun international operations in Istanbul with a Boeing 777, its first wide-body aircraft, taken from codeshare partner Turkish Airlines. This is a stop-gap arrangement for IndiGo, which needs the capacity until it takes delivery of the longer-range Airbus A321XLR planes in 2025.