Yesterday, Airbus got around to delivering the 1000th of their A320neo family aircraft (the family includes the A319 and the A321 and the variants as well). And it came home to none other but one of their biggest customers for their narrowbody workhorse, IndiGo.

The delivery of the A321neo aircraft, to be registered as VT-IUH, was held in Hamburg, Germany. The plane is on lease from CDB Aviation Lease Finance. Breaking away from usual practice where IndiGo gets Airbus to deliver the aircraft in Delhi, the CEO of IndiGo, Ronojoy Datta, flew over to Germany for this occasion. Others present were Anand Stanley of Airbus India & South Asia, Michael Menking, Head of the A320 Family Programme at Airbus, Chadi Saade, Head of Sales India at Airbus and Michael Culhane, Senior Vice President New Aircraft at CDB Aviation Lease Finance.

With about 430 A320neo family aircraft on order, IndiGo is the largest customer for the neo-engine equipped widebodies. They already have 96 A320neo family aircraft, including six A321neo planes in their fleet of 245 aircraft, which is the biggest for an Indian carrier, ever.

Airbus started deliveries of the neo version of the A320 family in 2016, and that makes the speed of this delivery worth a celebration. For reference sake, Airbus took about ten years to deliver the first 1000 of the A320ceo Family aircraft. The A320neo family, powered by the Pratt & Whitney GTF engines or the CFM LEAP engines, offer airlines up to 20% reduced fuel burn compared to previous generation (A320ceo) aircraft. The sound emission is also just half of the earlier aircraft.

The aircraft is being delivered with a unique decal denoting that it is the 1000th neo to be produced.