In the world of aviation, the quest for early delivery slots is growing. And one airline has many slots for the A320neo family aircraft, IndiGo. The airline, one of the largest narrowbody operators in the world, quietly added a small number of aircraft to its order book this past month.
IndiGo orders another ten A320neo aircraft.
IndiGo has recently placed quite a few big orders with Airbus. IndiGo placed its first order with Airbus in 2005 (100 A320 Family) and again in 2011 (180 A320 Family including the NEO), in 2014 (250neo Family), and in 2019 (300 A320neo Family). The last order from IndiGo was in 2019 when it placed another order for 500 A320neo family aircraft.
As it turns out, IndiGo has added another ten aircraft to its significant order book with Airbus. The board of IndiGo had approved the placement of 10 A320neo aircraft in September 2023. Per Airbus’s recent monthly order and delivery date released yesterday, IndiGo confirmed the order to Airbus on March 15, 2024.
Since its launch, IndiGo has ordered 1,340 Airbus A320/321/neo aircraft, including the recent ten aircraft orders confirmed by the airline. Of these, 273 A320neo and 677 A321neo aircraft (including the A321XLR) still need to be delivered as of the end of March 2024. Per IndiGo exchange filings, these ten aircraft should count for the order placed in 2019, which means that these aircraft will be delivered in the coming years (not in the 2029-2030 timeframe).
While this is pure speculation, it might have something to do with the availability of slots with Airbus, which might have come up due to the movement of another carrier or the postponement of deliveries to another airline (perhaps Spirit Airlines?).
Bottomline
IndiGo added another ten aircraft to its already large 1,330 order book of Airbus A320/321neo aircraft in March 2024. The airline clubbed these orders with its 2019 order of 300 aircraft. Now, as of the March 2024 closure, IndiGo has 273 A320neo and 677 A321neo aircraft left to be delivered to it.
What do you think of IndiGo’s ambitions of world domination?
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How viable is the air transportation business in India when the key to success is the sale and leaseback of large quantities of aircraft
People far more knowledgeable than me may be using all the accounting tricks to make it work but chance says that you will eventually run out of luck.
A philosophical question but what can be done to make the Indian middle-class spend more on flights rather than always looking for rock bottom prices?
@Dev, it is a combination of both, and sometimes a stroke of luck as well. IndiGo has 65% or so of domestic routes, and many international routes as well. Did not happen by chance. They run an efficient operation, mostly.
As for the accounting tricks, it is a big boost to their business, but something that some other airlines, such as Vistara, did not go for (straight up lease). Perhaps they did not want the extra dollop of cash, or their owners did not like the trick.
Now, coming to the Indian middle class, they are complaining but they are paying. That is how we have the flights running at 90-95% occupancy these days, There has been a cyclical upturn in airfares across the globe, and all carriers are making money hand over fist. In India, people used to switch back to trains, but with dynamic pricing on trains, even trains are either running full, or fares are high, or the delta is not good enough over taking a flight.
There is only one person who is still doing trickery around the whole Indian aviation business, and he shares his first name with me.