India gives highest orders for planes to Airbus, Indigo, Ratan Tata’s Air India are their top clients, still delay in delivery due to…

Airbus’ sourcing from India has been steadily increasing.

European aircraft manufacturer Airbus is optimistic about its business in India. The company wants to expand its industrial capabilities within the country, which will generate employment opportunities in the Indian economy.

Indian airlines like IndiGo and Air India are among its top three global customers. Both airlines are still facing delays in aircraft deliveries. Airbus executive Benoît de Saint-Exupéry stated that deliveries to Indian aviation companies are expected to increase as the company has ramped up aircraft production.

Aircraft Orders

An Airbus official revealed that IndiGo has an order for 916 aircraft, while Air India awaits the delivery of 344 aircraft. Most of these are narrow-body aircraft. Malaysia’s AirAsia Group, which earlier operated an airline in India in partnership with Tata, is in second position globally with 393 aircraft on order.

Increased Aircraft Production

During the IATA AGM held in Delhi, Benoît shared updates in an interview with The Times of India. Airlines are facing delivery delays, due to issues with Boeing as well. Benoît stated that they are beginning to see the first signs of stability in the supply chain and are producing 60 A320 aircraft every month, which matches pre-COVID levels. By 2027, they plan to increase this to 75 aircraft per month and have the orders and are scaling up production. He added that in the future, every Airbus aircraft will be partially made in India.

When asked about the possibility of establishing a Final Assembly Line (FAL) in India to fulfill the combined 1,750 aircraft orders from IndiGo and Air India, Benoît stated that they have FALs for other products like the H125 helicopter and C295 military aircraft. For commercial aircraft, their focus is on enhancing presence in India. Procuring components from India is more beneficial than setting up a commercial aircraft FAL here.

In 2020, Airbus purchased $500 million worth of components from India, which grew to over $1 billion in 2023.