PARIS (AP) – Indian budget airline IndiGo finalized an exceptionally large order for 250 single-aisle Airbus A320neo jets on Monday to keep up with rapid growth in the country’s air travel.
IndiGo, India’s largest domestic airline, had signed a preliminary order last year and firmed it up Monday, Airbus said in a statement. Airbus called it the biggest ever order by number of jets for the planmaker based in Toulouse, France.
At list prices, the jets would cost $26 billion, though customers usually negotiate discounts.
Several Asian low-cost carriers are building up fleets amid growing demand, and both Airbus and rival Boeing Co. have been wooing Indian airline companies.
India is expected to become the third largest aviation market globally by 2020, with the number of airline passengers tripling to some 450 million trips per year, as an expanding middle class trades up from slow train journeys to taking a plane.