Airbus snatches biggest single deal ever at Dubai Airshow

APD NEWS

text

**DUBAI, Nov. 15 - **Airbus and Pan-American Indigo Partners' four portfolio airlines have signed here on Wednesday a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the purchase of 430 additional A320neo family aircraft, marking the European aircraft carrier's largest single announcement ever, Airbus said in an e-mailed statement.

The purchase commitment, comprised of 273 A320neos and 157 A321neos worth 49.5 billion U.S. dollars at list prices, was announced at the Dubai Airshow by Bill Franke, Managing Partner of Indigo Partners, and John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer-Customers.

The aircraft will be allocated to the ultra low-cost airlines Frontier Airlines (United States), JetSMART (Chile), Volaris (Mexico) and Wizz Air (Hungary) upon the completion of final purchase agreement between Airbus and the four airlines, said Airbus.

When added to existing Airbus A320 orders, the new agreement will make Indigo Partners one of the largest customers by order number in the world for the Airbus single-aisle aircraft family. Airlines in the Indigo Partners family previously have placed orders for 427 A320 aircraft.

"This significant commitment for 430 additional aircraft underscores our optimistic view of the growth potential of our family of low-cost airlines, as well as our confidence in the A320neo as a platform for that growth," said Franke.

Leahy said "we are proud to augment their airline fleets in Latin America, North America and Europe with the single-aisle aircraft that offers the lowest operating costs, longest range and most spacious cabin."

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)