Indigo plans order for up to 50 Airbus A330 planes
NEWDELHI: Indigo, India’s biggest airline, plans to order as many as 50Air bussea 33 0wide-bodyjets as it seeks to expand beyond short-haul flights, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The carrier aims to take the upgraded a 330 ne over si on of the plane, according the people, who asked not to be named as the discussions aren’t public. The deal would be worth $13 billion at list prices for the smaller of two variants, though some of the aircraft are likely tobe options to be confirmed later. Indigo is developing plans for long-haul flights after building up a fleet of more than 150 Airbus A320 narrow-body planes used within the region. The carrier, based near New Delhi, looked at the boeing co .787 and Airbus’s larger A350 before settling on the A330neo, a re-en- gined model developed from an older design, the people said. Quick delivery times and the ease of re training a 320 pilots for the jet were a factor in the decision, one person said.
A sale to indigo would come as a shot in the arm for the A330 upgrade, which Airbus developed to fill a gap at the bottom end of the wide-body market after buildingthea350. Theplanehad won 214 orders through February, compared with almost 1,500 for the original model and around 850 for the A350. All commitmentsare for the bigger -900 ver- si on after hawaiian airlines canceled a deal for six smaller -800s last month.
Share soft he indian carrier fell as much as 1.8% on Friday in Mumbai.
An order announcement from Indigo could come as early as June, one of the people said. Representatives for the carrier didn’ t respond to requests for comments. A spokesman for Airbus said that the Toulouse, Francebased planemaker is in regular contact with all of its customers, while declining to comment further.