All Eyes On India Market As Flag Carrier Confirms Large Aircraft Orders

Credit: Airbus

Air India finalized separate large orders with Airbus and Boeing at the Paris Air Show June 20, illustrating the growing importance of India’s fast-growing aviation market.

The deals, first announced as LOIs in February, are for up to 250 Airbus and 290 Boeing aircraft.

The Airbus order covers 140 A320neos and 70 A321neos, as well as 34 A350-1000s and six A350-900s. It also includes a maintenance support package and the Airbus Skywide Core X3 digital analytics platform, for which Air India will be the launch customer.

Boeing and Air India order signing.
From left, Air India CEO and managing director Campbell Wilson; Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Stan Deal; Tata Sons and Air India chairman N. Chandrasekaran; Boeing Global Services president and CEO Stephanie Pope; and Air India commercial & transformation officer Nipun Aggarwal. Credit: Boeing

The Boeing deal includes 190 737 MAXs, 20 787s and 10 777Xs, with options for 50 737 MAXs and 20 787s, as well as services such as parts provisioning, digital applications, training programs and modification services.

The on-site signing ceremonies follow two trends in the first two days of this Paris Air Show, the first since 2019 because of the pandemic. The first theme is that airlines have mostly confirmed aircraft orders rather than announce new deals. The second is that India has established its new status as the hot market for aviation growth and new airliners. On the show’s opening day, Indian LCC IndiGo confirmed an order for 500 A320 family aircraft.

Karen Walker

Karen Walker is Air Transport World Editor-in-Chief and Aviation Week Network Group Air Transport Editor-in-Chief. She joined ATW in 2011 and oversees the editorial content and direction of ATW, Routes and Aviation Week Group air transport content.