Big birds for big blue: IndiGo places a firm order for 30 Airbus A350s after ‘agreeing’ to…

NEW DELHI: IndiGo on Monday placed a firm order for 30 wide body Airbus A350 aircraft. The airline had in April 25, 2024, announced it had “agreed to” order 30 planes and have an option for 70 more of these big birds. That intent has now been converted to an order as IndiGo plans to start medium to longhauls from 2027 as the delivery of these planes begin.
“Today’s historic moment marks a new chapter for IndiGo and will further shape the future of the airline and for Indian aviation at the same time…. fleet of 30 Airbus A350-900 aircraft will allow IndiGo to embark on its next phase of becoming one of the leading global aviation players…. This reaffirms IndiGo’s belief in, and commitment to, the growth of India, and in our strategic partnership with Airbus,” said Pieter Elbers, CEO, IndiGo.
Benoît de Saint-Exupéry, Airbus EVP Sales, commercial aircraft, said: “A heartfelt thank you to IndiGo for putting its trust in Airbus once again, and to our respective teams who negotiated this agreement for 30 A350s. IndiGo’s first widebody order opens an exciting new chapter in our close partnership. We are proud that our fuel-efficient, next-generation A320 Family revolutionised domestic air travel in India, and that now the A350 is poised to replicate the same success on long-haul routes.”
Airbus has long dominated the single aisle market in India with Tata Group’s Air India and Vistara — the only two operators of wide bodies in India after Jet Airways’ collapse in 2019 — using only Boeing 777s and 787s as their twin aisles. That changed last year with Air India opting for the A350s also as part of their wide body order that included Boeing too. Now IndiGo has opted for A350s.