Rishi Sunak hails IndiGo-Airbus pact as major win for UK aerospace

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has welcomed India's budget carrier IndiGo's multi-billion-dollar order of 500 Airbus aircraft as a major win for the UK aerospace sector, which will support thousands of jobs and economic growth of the country. IndiGo, India's largest airline by market share, and Airbus, one of the largest commercial aerospace companies in the UK, announced a purchase agreement earlier this week for 500 A320 family aircraft, making it one of the largest aircraft purchases by an airline in civil aviation history.

It takes the total number of Airbus aircraft on order by IndiGo to 1,330, which also established IndiGo's position as the world's biggest A320 customer.

"This contract is a major win for our aerospace sector," Sunak tweeted on Tuesday.


"Airbus's deal with IndiGo will be worth billions to the UK and support thousands of jobs across the country - helping to grow the economy," he said.

The deal was signed at the Paris Air Show this week by Rahul Bhatia, Promoter and Managing Director of IndiGo, Dr Venkataramani Sumantran, Chairman and Non-Executive Independent Director of IndiGo, Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury and Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Head of International.

"It is difficult to overstate the significance of IndiGo's new historic order for 500 Airbus A320 Family aircraft. An order book now of almost 1000 aircraft well into the next decade, enables IndiGo to fulfill its mission to continue to boost economic growth, social cohesion and mobility in India," said Elbers.

Airbus CCO Christian Scherer said the order is a "resounding endorsement" of the A320 family's best-in-class operating economics.

"This landmark order marks a new chapter in Airbus and IndiGo's relationship that is democratising affordable air travel for millions of people in the world's fastest-growing aviation market," said Scherer.

New Delhi-headquartered IndiGo pitches itself among the fastest-growing carriers in the world.

Since its first narrow-body A320neo aircraft was delivered in March 2016, its fleet of A320neo family has grown into one of the world's largest with 264 aircraft in operation - including 162 A320neo, 79 A321neo, 21 A320ceo and 2 A321 freighters.

Over the last two decades, the A320neo has been instrumental in democratising air travel in India as an expanding economy and rising disposable incomes continue to add millions of first-time flyers to a booming aviation market, the company said.

With a fleet of over 300 aircraft, the airline says it operates over 1,800 daily flights, connecting 78 domestic destinations and plans to grow its international footprint to 32 international destinations.