Airbus Wins Record £17bn Order From India Firm

Airbus has secured its biggest ever single order for planes in a £17bn deal with Indian airline IndiGo.

The country's biggest carrier has bought 250 A320neo jets from the French manufacturer.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) will bring the budget airline's total A320 order to 530 planes.

The deal is a blow to rival Boeing (NYSE: BA - news) in the quest for market share in the narrow-body aircraft market and the American firm's shares were slightly lower on the news.

IndiGo is the fastest growing airline in India and is responsible for nearly four in every 10 domestic flights.

Its president, Aditya Ghosh, said: "This new order further reaffirms IndiGo's commitment to the long-term development of affordable air transportation in India and overseas.

"The additional fuel efficient A320neo aircraft will enable us to continue to bring our low fares and courteous, hassle free service to more customers and markets and will create more job opportunities and growth."

Airbus' share price jumped by more than 2% in early trading, before settling 1% higher.

Its boss, John Leahy, said: "It fills us with pride that IndiGo, India's largest airline and one of the early launch customers for the A320neo, is coming back for more of our benchmark aircraft."

He added: "This order confirms the A320 family as the airliner of choice in the most dynamic aviation growth markets."

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in Airbus have risen nearly 8% over the last 12 months (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) .