Airbus has received the largest order in its history: the American investment company Indigo Partners will purchase 430 medium-sized A320 aircraft at a catalog price of 49,5 billion dollars, equal to approximately 42 billion euros. It is very likely that the European aeronautical consortium granted a discount on the list price for such an order, but the precise value of the contract was not disclosed.
"I welcome this new sign of confidence from the major airlines participating in this unprecedented commercial deal," Airbus Chief Financial Officer Fabrice Bregier told AFP at the Dubai Air Show. “It is a tremendous success for Airbus and its A320 aircraft.”
Specifically, the order is for 273 A320neos and 157 A321neos, the upgraded and more fuel-efficient version of Airbus' most popular passenger aircraft, the A320.
Thanks to this contract, Airbus' order book for this year has more than doubled, from 288 aircraft in October to the current 718.
The A320, which has been in service since 1988, thus reaches a total of 13.700 orders, becoming one of the best-selling aircraft in aviation history.
Indigo Partners is a US investment company founded by Bill Franke, specializing in the leasing of aircraft to low cost airlines. The new aircraft will be leased to four carriers: Frontier Airlines of the United States, JetSMART of Chile, Volaris of Mexico and Wizz Air of Hungary.
Even the American Boeing announced a maxi order during the Dubai aeronautical fair. The company has signed an order with Flydubai for 225 medium-haul 737 carriers, which on the basis of list prices correspond to a value of 27 billion dollars. A few hours earlier Airbus had reported that it had signed the largest order in its history, 430 A320s to the investment firm Indigo Partners for a list price of 49,5 billion dollars.
