Article Posted on : - Jun 24, 2011

Airbus A320 for GoAir.

LE BOURGET, FRANCE (PTI): After the mega order of 180 aircraft by IndiGo, its no-frill competitor GoAir on Thursday confirmed its deal worth USD 6.6 billion to buy 72 next generation Airbus A-320 aircraft.

While the order for these A-320neo aircraft were placed a few weeks ago, an agreement to this effect was signed at the 49th Paris Air Show here on Thursday. The deal is worth 6.6 billion as per the list price of the plane.

The low-cost airline currently operates 10 A-320s with an average age of two years, which makes it the youngest airline fleet in India.

Airbus delivered GoAir's first A-320 in 2007 from its original order of 20 such planes placed a year earlier.

It would take delivery of the other 10 aircraft over the next two years, an Airbus spokesperson said here.

"Today, we have shown our commitment to the growth of our airline and to our loyal customers. The combined order for 92 Airbus aircraft (20 A-320s and 72 A-320neo) reinforces our longstanding partnership with the leading manufacturer and the leading aircraft the market has to offer," GoAir Managing Director Jeh Wadia said.

The A320neo, which has got overwhelming response since its launch and has almost 1000 commitments from customers till date, would be available from 2015.

Industry sources said this would be the time when GoAir is likely to start getting deliveries of this aircraft.

"We are delighted with GoAir's endorsement of our A-320neo. As an established operator of the A-320, GoAir clearly recognises the benefits and productivity gains of being able to operate A-320s and A-320neo harmoniously in a single fleet," Airbus CEO and President Tom Enders said.

The A320neo has over 95 per cent airframe commonality making it an easy fit into existing fleets while offering up to 500 nautical miles (or 950 kilometres) more range or two tonnes more payload.