IndiGo’s Global Bet: Doubles Airbus Order, Strikes Deal With Delta, Air France, Virgin
Photo Credit: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers (right) with Benoît de Saint-Exupéry, executive vice president, sales, of commercial aircraft, Airbus, in New Delhi on Sunday. Skift / Peden Doma Bhutia
Skift Take
For years, India's aviation sector was mostly seen as a feeder to global giants. Now, with big jets and even bigger partners, IndiGo hopes to flip the script.
IndiGo is doubling its order of Airbus A350 wide body jets and entering a new partnership with Delta Air Lines, Air France-KLM, and Virgin Atlantic — a move that signals the Indian carrier’s push into long-haul international markets.
“We will continue to add one aircraft each and every week for pretty much the next decade,” said CEO Pieter Elbers at a press briefing in Delhi on the first day of the annual IATA industry conference.
The airline, which last year received 58 aircraft from Airbus, signed a new memorandum of understanding to convert 30 of its 70 existing A350 purchase rights into firm orders. This brings IndiGo’s confirmed A350 wide body fleet to 60 aircraft, with the deliveries of the first 30 beginning in 2027.
Last April, IndiGo placed its first-eve
