Airbus receives record-breaking orders at Paris Air Show

Airbus, the aircraft manufacturer which employs around 4,500 staff at its wing-making factory in Broughton, near Chester, has registered record-breaking new orders at the Paris Air Show.

IndiGo, India’s largest airline by market share, has placed a firm order for 500 A320 family aircraft, setting the record for the biggest single purchase agreement in the history of commercial aviation.

Also, flynas, the Saudi air carrier and a leading low-cost airline in the Middle East, has firmed up an order with Airbus for 30 new A320neo family aircraft, taking the airline’s total order with Airbus to 120 A320neo aircraft, including 10 A321XRLs.

And Air Mauritius has confirmed an order for three A350 aircraft to expand its network in Europe and South Asia.

IndiGo’s latest agreement takes the total number of Airbus aircraft on order by the carrier to 1,330, establishing its position as the world’s biggest A320 family customer.

The historic purchase agreement was signed by Rahul Bhatia, promoter and managing director of IndiGo, Dr Venkataramani Sumantran, chairman and non-executive independent director of IndiGo, Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo, Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO, and Christian Scherer, Airbus chief commercial officer and head of international, at the Paris Air Show 2023.

Pieter Elbers said: “It is difficult to overstate the significance of IndiGo’s new historic order for 500 Airbus A320 family aircraft. An order book now of almost 1,000 aircraft well into the next decade, enables IndiGo to fulfil its mission to continue to boost economic growth, social cohesion and mobility in India.”