Indigo To Buy 250 Airbus A320 Neo Aircrafts

India’s biggest domestic airline by market share, Indigo, has signed a record-breaking agreement with Airbus for the delivery of 250 of their new aircrafts – Airbus A320 NEO (New Engine Option). This order is the largest single order of jets from the European Plane maker recorded till date, and Indigo has reserved an option to buy 100 more post the delivery of the 250 aircrafts ordered.

Picture Caption & Link : India’s largest domestic airline, http://bit.ly/1DhtdsR

The airline will start taking delivery from Airbus in 2018.

The total cost that Indigo paid to buy the aircrafts was Dollar 25.7 billion despite getting a discount from the manufacturer.

Due to the high fuel cost and government policies in India, many airlines feel it is tough to earn money in Asia’s third largest economy. Despite all these conditions and stipulations, Indigo is the only major airline that is managing to earn a profit.

Picture Caption & Link : The only airline in India enjoying operating profits is Indigo, http://bit.ly/ZHhIwb

Indigo is expanding insistently as it seeks to win more market share in one of the world’s fastest growing aviation market. These aircrafts are more fuel efficient, and as more than 50% of the total operational cost is accounted by the fuel, the new aircrafts will yield huge profits in the long run as they are 15% more fuel efficient than the previous models.

In the next six years Indigo is going to expand in a rapidly growing market where the passenger number is expected to grow by up to 75 percent. While on the other hand, rivals like Spice jet are cutting the size of its fleet to combat losses.

This would be a significant step for Indigo, as this step will help save more fuel and promote a hassle free journey for passengers. Right now it has a fleet of 83 planes that fly to 31 Indian cities in India and five outside of the country.

Last year profits of the Airline was about 317 crore and the company is expecting that trend to continue, thereby enabling the purchase of the aircrafts.

Indigo says that this order is ideal to meet their growth ambition, and would also help them to retire their old fleet to improve overall efficiency.

This step by Indigo can be very useful for the Indian economy as it would give dual profits toIndia, firstly it would create more jobs and secondly, hassle free services would be provided to the passengers. The fuel efficiency can also mean that flying could become more economical for the Indian air passenger.