Airbus & Indigo Partners Ink Historic $49.5-Billion For A320neo

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Officials from Indigo Partners, Frontier, Airbus, Wizz Air, Volaris, and JetSmart pose for a photo at the Dubai Air Show where the companies announced details of a major deal that find Indigo Partners agreeing to purchases 430 A320neo Family aircraft from Airbus. (Photo courtesy of Airbus.)

In what could go down as one of the biggest deals ever in commercial aviation, leading global aircraft manufacturer Airbus and private equity firm Indigo Partners announced at the Dubai Air Show a proposed deal that would find four of Indigo Partners’ ultra-low-cost portfolio airlines—Frontier Airlines, JetSmart, Volaris, and Wizz Air—purchasing 430 aircraft from the Airbus A320neo Family. Worth $49.5 billion, the deal entails delivery of 273 A320neo and 157 A321neo aircraft to the airlines.

Related Boeing Deal

As various outlets reported, the deal leaves Airbus and Boeing close in terms of total aircraft orders the companies have respectively taken in 2017. Shortly after the Airbus-Indigo Partners announcement, Boeing detailed a deal of its own with FlyDubai of the United Arab Emirates, which agreed to buy up to 225 737 Max aircraft from Boeing valued at $27 billion based on list prices. Earlier at the same Dubai Air Show, Boeing announced a $15 billion deal with Dubai’s Emirates airline that will find Emirates receiving 40 787-10 aircraft from Boeing. In 2013, Emirates agreed to a $76 billion deal with Boeing for 150 777X aircraft and a $23 billion deal with Airbus for 50 of its A380 aircraft.

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If a deal that Airbus and Indigo Partners announced Nov. 15 at the Dubai Air Show follows through, Hungary’s Wizz Air will purchase recent 72 A320neo and 74 A321neo aircraft from Airbus. (Photo courtesy of Airbus.)

Inside The Airbus-Indigo Deal

Technically, the Airbus-Indigo Partners announcement entailed the companies signing a Memorandum of Understanding, or nonbinding agreement, until final purchase agreements are completed. Still, Airbus states that when factoring in existing orders of Airbus A320neo Family aircraft, the new deal will propel Indigo Partners to being “one of the largest customers by order number in the world” for Airbus’ single-aisle aircraft. Indigo Partners’ airlines has previously ordered 427 A320 Family aircraft, Airbus reports.

The Airbus-Indigo Partners deal specifically finds Hungary-based Wizz Air acquiring 72 A320neo and 74 A321neo aircraft, U.S.-based Frontier Airlines receiving 100 A320neo and 34 A321neo aircraft, Chile-based JetSmart acquiring 56 A320neo and 14 A321neo aircraft, and Mexico-based Volaris receiving 46 A320neo and 34 A321neo aircraft. Since launching the A320neo Family in 2010, Airbus reports it has received 5,200 orders from 95 customers worldwide and acquired a 60% market share.

In a statement, Bill Franke, managing partner of Indigo Partners, said his company’s commitment to purchasing 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.”

Source: Airbus