Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday hailed IndiGo's deal with Airbus to procure 500 A320 aircraft and termed it as a significant milestone for the India aviation industry. The minister told ANI news agency, “India has set another landmark with this largest-ever recorded order by a carrier with any aircraft manufacturer in the world.” He expressed confidence that this investment will yield fruitful outcomes in terms of employment opportunities within India.
Expressing optimism for the employment prospects associated with the deal, the minister said, “Every dollar invested in civil aviation yields $3.1 in terms of new growth, as well as the employment multiplier. Every direct job in civil aviation results in 6.1 indirect jobs in the sector. And therefore, there are tremendous dividends that accrue from the ever-expanding civil aviation sector.”
The minister also pointed out the reasons behind airfare hikes. He said, "...There was a rise in airfare due to two reasons. Civil Aviation is a seasonal sector. We have high season and low seasons. That was a high season effect. Meanwhile, operation of one of our airlines discontinued. So, that added to the pressure and there was an excess demand...In last 10 days, the fares have gone down by 16-64 per cent.”
India’s biggest airline, IndiGo’s, mutli-billion dollar deal is said to be one of the largest-ever aircraft purchases by an airline. This comes five months after Air India placed orders for 470 aircraft with Airbus and Boeing. The purchase order by IndiGo is the largest-ever aircraft order placed by any airline with Airbus. However, the financial details of the order were not disclosed.
IndiGo's order is bigger than Air India's order of 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing placed in March. The report pointed out that IndiGo also has a pending delivery of 477 aircraft from the A320 family by 2030.