France may be banning internal flights where train travel is an alternative within the country, but its Paris Airshow at Le Bourget (19-25 June) is not holding back on the big aerospace deals.
Airbus announced on the first day of the show a record 500-plane deal with Indian airline IndiGo, an indicator of the strong demand for jets the travel industry swings back fast post-Covid.
IndiGo’s $55bn deal for 500 planes is the largest ever by number of aircraft and beats Air India’s provisional purchase of 470 Airbus and Boeing jets earlier this year.
“This is just the beginning: There’s more going forward. With the growth of India [and] the growth of the Indian aviation market … this is the right time for us to place this order,” IndiGo chief executive Pieter Elbers told a news conference.
Airbus said it also expected to confirm that Qantas is exercising options for nine more A220s, while sources ay another large order for narrow-body jets from Mexican low-cost carrier Viva Aerobus is in the pipeline.
The Paris Airshow alternates with Farnborough in Britain, and is taking place at Le Bourget for the first time in four years.
French President Emmanuel Macron flew in to the show to watch some demonstrations.
It is thought the show could broker up to 2,000 jet orders by the end of the week.
But while airlines now seem keen to invest in new aircraft, manufacturers are struggling to build them quickly enough, because supply chains remain disrupted.
Photo courtesy: SIAE
