Paris (AFP)

Airbus garnered a major success Tuesday with a firm mega-order of 300 aircraft of the A320neo family by Indian low-cost company IndiGo, worth at least $ 33 billion at list price.

The success of this new version of the flagship product of the European aircraft manufacturer contrasts with the setbacks of Boeing, whose re-engineered version of the 737, the MAX, has been grounded since March after two accidents that killed 346 people. His boss Dennis Muilenburg must try to justify himself Tuesday and Wednesday before the US Congress.

The order of IndiGo is "one of the most important" ever passed to the European aircraft manufacturer, announced Airbus in a statement.

It includes A320neo, A321neo and A321XLR, a single-aisle aircraft with a very long range, capable of traveling 4,700 nautical miles (8,700 km), whose launch was announced at the Paris Air Show in June.

The amount of the contract has not been disclosed but amounts to at least $ 33.2 billion according to the 2018 catalog price, the latest communicated by the aircraft manufacturer.

"This order is an important milestone" because it will "strengthen air connectivity in India, which will in turn boost economic growth and mobility," said the boss of IndiGo Ronojoy Dutta, quoted in the release .

He had clearly posted the trend in May, confiding in an interview with the Bloomberg agency its intention to buy Airbus "in quantity". "I can not give you an estimate, but it's going to be a lot," he said, saying he wanted to make IndiGo "one of the largest profitable airlines in the world."

The company had already placed a giant order worth more than $ 20 billion in June to equip 280 Airbus with LEAP-1A engines, produced by CFM International, Safran's French-American joint venture with General Electric.

Because the needs in India are enormous. The number of air passengers in the country has increased sixfold over the past decade, with the middle class enjoying better connections and cheaper flights.

- "Vote of confidence" -

In 2018 the country experienced the fastest growth in terms of revenue per passenger-kilometer (RPK) with 18.9% increase.

And in its 20-year forecast of new aircraft requirements published in September, Airbus estimates that domestic air traffic in India should be multiplied by 4.8.

IndiGo is today largely ahead of the Indian air market after the bankruptcy of its rival Jet Airways. With this new contract, it now has 730 aircraft of the A320neo class in its order book.

Since its first delivery of an A320neo in March 2016, IndiGo operates the largest fleet of this aircraft, with 97 A320 neo. It also has 128 A320ceo, older design.

Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury, also quoted in the statement, said he was "grateful for the vote of confidence because this order confirms that A320neo family aircraft are prime aircraft on the markets most dynamics of aeronautical growth ".

At the end of September, Airbus had registered more than 6,650 firm orders for 110 customers for the A320neo aircraft. Boeing has won 4.930 orders for its 737MAX, the direct competitor of the European single-aisle.

The order of IndiGo comes to give color to a year so far a little dull. If the low-cost American airline Spirit Airlines has signed a memorandum of understanding over the past few days to acquire "up to 100 aircraft" from the A320neo family, the number of net firm orders recorded by Airbus was 127 at the end of September. .

© 2019 AFP