Indian budget airline IndiGo is reportedly in talks with Airbus to place a mega order for planes.
Reuters, quoting unnamed sources said the European planemaker is set to finalise a record deal to sell 500 narrow-body A320-family jets to the Indian carrier.
If the deal is finalised, the order will eclipse Air India’s provisional purchase of 470 jets in February.
IndiGo is also yet to take delivery of nearly 500 jets out of a total order of 830 Airbus A320-family planes.
Indian airlines now have the second-largest order book, with over 6 percent share of the industry backlog, behind only the US, according to a June 1 report by Barclays.
According to analysts, the deal would be worth around $50 billion as per the most recently published Airbus list prices, but would typically be worth less than half this after widespread airline industry discounts for bulk deals.
“Airbus and Boeing are also competing in separate talks to sell 25 A330neo or Boeing 787 wide-body jets to the same airline,” the report said.
IndiGo dominates domestic Indian market
IndiGo has a 56 percent share of the domestic Indian market.
The Indian budget airline aims to double its capacity by the end of the decade and expand its network, especially in international markets, IndiGo Chief Executive Pieter Elbers told analysts last month during an earnings call.
Airbus and Boeing have been racking up billions of dollars of new orders stretching beyond 2030 as airlines lock in supplies well ahead amid looming shortages.
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