Airbus strikes its biggest deal with nearly $50b order

Airbus won an order valued at nearly $50 billion for 430 planes from its single-aisle A320neo line, overshadowing the deals won by its rival Boeing

Airbus has the ultimate victory. The European aircraft manufacturer announced on Wednesday at the Dubai Airshow the biggest commercial-plane deal in its history. 
It won an order valued at nearly $50 billion for 430 planes from its single-aisle A320neo line, overshadowing the deals won by its rival Boeing. 
The pact with US investor Indigo Partners gives Airbus the upper hand at the Dubai Airshow, where it has been trailing its US rival in orders. The purchase would also mark a crowning achievement for Airbus sales chief John Leahy, who is set to retire after a multi-decade career in which he built an order book for thousands of aircraft and lifted the European planemaker into a duopoly position with its US rival.
The 430-aircraft order will be allocated among Indigo Partners' four portfolio airlines including the ultra low-cost airlines Frontier Airlines (United States), JetSMART (Chile), Volaris (Mexico) and Wizz Air (Hungary) upon the completion of final purchase agreements between Airbus and the four airlines.
The 430-aircraft commitment, comprised of 273 A320neos and 157 A321neos worth $49.5 billion 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, Airbus Commercial Aircraft.
When added to existing Airbus A320 Family 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 Family 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 Family as a platform for that growth," said Bill Franke. 
"Our airlines know that a great aircraft coupled with a great business plan will create value for our customers. We look forward to bringing comfort and low fares to more passengers around the world as Wizz Air, Volaris, JetSMART and Frontier continue to expand."
-    issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com
 
 

• Dubai