Indian carrier IndiGo has placed an order with Airbus for 500 of its A320 family aircraft, the largest-ever purchase agreement in the history of commercial aviation.
The order was signed and sealed by IndiGo and Airbus chiefs at the Paris Air Show on Monday (19 June), and extends IndiGo’s order book with Airbus to more than 1,300 aircraft.
Pieter Elbers, chief executive of Delhi-headquartered IndiGo, described it as a "historic order" that would "boost economic growth, social cohesion and mobility in India".
The airline placed its first A320 order with Airbus in 2005, which was followed by several more. It took delivery of its first A320neo in March 2016, and currently operates a fleet of 264 aircraft, which includes 162 A320neos and 79 A321neos.
Virgin Atlantic agreed a codeshare with IndiGo last year to offer seamless onward connections to 16 destinations across India off the back of its Heathrow routes to Delhi and Mumbai, which was expanded to 34 connections earlier this year.
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