India remains a key market for Airbus

Toulouse: From selling its first passenger aircraft to India way back in 1974, leading European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has come a long way with nearly 200 of its aircraft being in service today in India which has also emerged as the seventh biggest operator of Airbus planes worldwide. Leading the pack is the best seller single-aisle aircraft from Airbus — the A320 for which the erstwhile state-owned Indian Airlines was the launch customer in 1989 and now low-cost private operators — IndiGo and GoAir — have become the largest fleet operators of A320 airliners.
Confident of its future potential, Airbus is also launching a fuel-efficient, advanced version of A-320, called the NEO (New Engine Option) equipped with bigger wingtips ‘sharklets'. Airbus has already received nearly 1100 firm orders from 22 customers worldwide for the newer A320 version. Among the Indian operators, IndiGo and GoAir, have placed orders for A320 (NEO) which will result in 15 per cent fuel burn reduction translating into fuel savings of nearly $2 million a year for airlines.
The A320 has turned out to be the flagship aircraft from the European consortium and is the world's best-selling aircraft with 7,926 firm orders, 4,700 deliveries and a backlog of 2,900 aircraft, Joost Van Der Heijden who heads airline marketing in India and Southeast Asia, told a group of visiting Indian journalists at Airbus headquarters here.
IndiGo, India's largest low-cost carrier which has recently launched its international flights, will be the launch customer for A-320 NEO which would be delivered to it from 2016. The new version will also result in reduction of emissions and lower engine noise. While IndiGo has ordered 150 NEOs, GoAir has placed an order for 72 of such aircraft.
12/11/11 Vinay Kumar/The Hindu

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Categories: Foreign Nov 2011, Indian Aviation- In General Nov 2011