GoAir firmed up its order for 72 of EADS subsidiary Airbus's single aisle A320 NEOs at the Paris Airshow on Thursday, making India the single largest buyer of the aircraft.
The $6.6-billion order comes a day after IndiGo confirmed that it would be purchasing 150 of the new engine option version of the short-haul plane, at list price, along with 30 A320s.
This takes India's orders to 222 or almost a third of the total global orders or commitments for the aircraft to date.
“Today we have shown our commitment to the growth of our airline,” said Mr Jeh Wadia, Managing Director of Go Airlines. Like IndiGo, the airline will also consider taking delivery of the larger A321 crafts in place of some of the A320s, dependent on market conditions.
The A320 NEO has been one of the big success stories of this year's Paris Airshow raking in a large numbers of orders from across the world as demand for more fuel-efficient, short haul planes grows in response to spirally fuel costs.
Reflecting concern about high oil prices – as a result of the conflict in Libya – the International Energy Agency announced, on Thursday, that 28 member countries would be releasing 60 million barrels of oil from government stockpiles to push down prices – only the third time in history that the organisation has taken this step. Airbus says the new engine option “provided either by CFM International, or United Technologies subsidiary Pratt and Whitney” provides around 15 per cent fuel savings. GoAir is yet to select one of these.
Airbus charges a $6.2 million premium for the new engine option for the A-319, A-320 and A-321 as a result of the fuel savings, the plane's greater range capability (it can travel 500 nautical miles further) and lower maintenance cost.
According to the latest figures from the Director General of Civil Aviation, domestic passenger traffic in India in the first six months of the year rose to 244.98 lakh – a 17.6 per cent rise on the same period a year ago.
GoAir currently has a 6.6 per cent market share, while IndiGo has 19.9 per cent of the market.