For 18 years, IndiGo has built an exemplary, no-frills operation, carrying passengers across the length and breadth of India with the A320/neo, the A321neo and the ATR aircraft. The airline also built a sizeable regional operation between India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the SAARC nations. The airline has ordered 1340 Airbus narrowbody aircraft so far and has over 350 in operation.

Airbus prepares for the next step in world domination.

As one of the world’s most valuable airlines (in terms of market cap) and India’s largest airline (in terms of market share), IndiGo has been warm to the idea of inducting widebody aircraft for building bridges between India and transatlantic stations such as the US and Australia. The airline already has the XLR on order, to connect India with Europe and Fareast Asia.

In 2023, IndiGo launched a project to assess the viability of International operations, putting up the Boeing 787 against the Airbus A330neo in a contest while taking the 777-300ER on wet lease to start building experience with widebody revenue management and so on. Many airshows came and went but we did not hear from IndiGo about the order. Then, the A350 entered the room. Remember, one of the key reasons for bringing on Pieter Elbers as the CEO was to shape the next phase of IndiGo’s growth story, which was international expansion.

IndiGo signs on for 30 A350-900s with 70 options

Today, IndiGo announced a firm order for 30 A350-900 aircraft, the configuration of which is yet to be decided. IndiGo has also retained the purchase rights for another 70 aircraft. As the sole supplier of engines, Rolls Royce will power the fleet with the Rolls Royce Trent XWB engines. IndiGo expects to start inducting these aircraft into the fleet from 2027 onwards.

The order was confirmed at InterGlobe’s Corporate Headquarters in Gurugram today, while Airbus and Rolls Royce visited. Then, they all went to India Gate for pictures and a celebration.

The 30 aircraft are not the interesting part for me. It is a reasonable order and will help IndiGo open up long—and ultra-long-haul route pairs such as those to North America and South America. However, the 70 options are attractive because they signal that IndiGo is open to not keeping this a niche operation.

The Transition

Unwritten about is the fact that IndiGo is rebuilding itself to move from being India’s people mover to being an Indian to the world people mover. So, will this mean that the bells and whistles, which have been famously missing from IndiGo for many years, will appear in the coming years? We will see.

What bothers me is that IndiGo is excited to announce this order, while Airbus, which is quick to the market with client announcements, has yet to make any announcement. [Update: Airbus announced the order on May 6, 2024]

Bottomline

IndiGo has made a firm order for 30 A350-900 aircraft, along with purchase rights to another 70. The airline has yet to decide how it wants to configure the aircraft. But it expects to have the aircraft enter its fleet in 2027.

What do you think of long-haul operations at IndiGo with the A350-900?

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