Jan. 12: Low cost carrier IndiGo, on Wednesday inked the largest deal in aviation history worth $15 billion, with a mammoth order of 180 aircraft from French aviation giant Airbus.
The MoU was inked at Toulouse, France, and the order comprises 30 Airbus A-320s and 150 of the new A-320 neo which will be very fuel efficient. IndiGo, which had launched operations in 2006, will take delivery of these aircraft from 2016 to 2025.
IndiGo had also placed a $6 billion order six years ago from Airbus for acquisition of 100 aircraft. Currently, the airline has 34 aircraft in its fleet. The new acquisitions of 180 aircraft will be over and above the previous order of 100 aircraft which means that IndiGo will have a huge fleet strength of 280 aircraft by 2025.
The airline is also hoping to fly abroad to sectors in south-east Asia and the middle-east as soon as it completes five years of its domestic operations this August. IndiGo was in the news last month for cornering a market-share of 17.3 per cent and overtaking Air India.
When asked how the airline would finance such a huge acquisition, top sources in the airline indicated that this would be done through raising resources internally as well as loans.