1,260 aircraft due: IndiGo, Air India among Airbus’ biggest customers with largest backlog

Airbus has identified IndiGo and Air India as two of its largest customers worldwide regarding aircraft backlog. Benoit de Saint-Exupery, Executive Vice President (Sales, Commercial Aircraft) at Airbus, reported the company needs to deliver 916 aircraft to IndiGo and 344 to Air India, mainly consisting of narrow-body models. Malaysia-based AirAsia Group, a former joint venture partner in India with Tata Group, follows with a backlog of 393 planes. During the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting in Delhi, Benoit provided a hopeful update regarding the airlines awaiting delayed deliveries. “We are noticing the first signs of stability in the supply chain. We are now back to pre-COVID production levels, manufacturing 60 A320 family single-aisle planes monthly, with plans to increase that to 75 by 2027. We have the orders and are ramping up production; every Airbus commercial aircraft flying forward will incorporate elements from India,” he stated. When probed about whether the collective order of 1,750 aircraft from IndiGo and Air India warrants a final assembly line (FAL) in India, Benoit remarked, “We will have final assembly lines for other products (including one for H125 helicopters for the civil sector and another for C295 military aircraft). On the commercial aircraft side, we are exploring opportunities to enhance our presence within the Indian industry. Sourcing from India holds more value than establishing a FAL for commercial crafts, and we continuously augment this sourcing from here.” Benoit further mentioned that Airbus’s sourcing from India stood at $500 million in 2020, increased to over $1 billion in 2023, and reached $1.4 billion last year. He stated, “Our aim is to achieve $2 billion before the decade concludes.”