By Staff Correspondent
Airbus has confirmed that IndiGo, the biggest airline in India, has decided to purchase 30 A350-900 planes. As a result, IndiGo will be able to better serve long-haul destinations on its international network.
The next chapter in our strong collaboration with IndiGo is really exciting,” said Benoît de Saint-Exupéry, Airbus’s EVP Sales for Commercial Aircraft. With the A320neo Family, the airline has made flying more accessible to more people, revolutionizing Indian domestic air travel. Indigo is now taking the next step in its mission to expose the world to India with the A350 decision. The airline has our full backing as it makes this bold and important move. Much obliged to the IndiGo crew for renewing their faith in Airbus.
With its new A350 fleet, IndiGo can now fly nonstop to Europe, North America, Australia, and the Far East, skipping the usual stopovers in the Gulf. With this change, additional direct connections to well-travelled overseas locations will be available, improving connectivity even more. By the decade’s end, IndiGo hopes to have doubled its overall capacity, from its present 60% share of India’s domestic aviation industry. As part of this, it is utilizing the capabilities of its new A350 aircraft to significantly expand its worldwide network. The arrival of the A350 aircraft is expected to substantially raise IndiGo’s current allocation of capacity to foreign routes, which stands at 27%.
Some sources indicate that, particularly in the aftermath of the epidemic, demand for air travel, both domestically and internationally, is skyrocketing. Both private and public sources predict that the number of international air passengers from India would skyrocket to 160 million by the year 2030. The significant growth from 64 million in 2019 is worth noting. But international airlines like Emirates continue to account for a sizable chunk of this traffic.
