IndiGo has placed a record deal for 500 Airbus A320 aircraft, the largest single purchase agreement in commercial aviation history.

The agreement, announced on the opening day of the Paris Airshow, is valued at over $55 billion before any bulk-order discounts.

IndiGo has placed an order for 1,330 aircraft with Airbus.

This leads into a consistent flow of deliveries between 2030 and 2035.

According to the company, the additional delivery would help IndiGo cut its operational expenses and enhance fuel economy.

According to some observers, India’s aviation business is on course to supplant China as the aerospace industry’s next development frontier.

The country is predicted to be the fastest-growing G20 economy in the coming years, and the number of first-time flyers has increased significantly since the pandemic.

And there is still plenty of room for expansion. Fewer than 5% of the country’s 1.4 billion people are thought to have flown, yet air traffic in India is increasing rapidly as disposable incomes rise.

Tata Group confirmed an order for 250 Airbus planes in February, while IndiGo’s rival Air India made headlines earlier this year by making an order for 470 planes from both Airbus and Boeing.

This latest agreement demonstrates that trust is returning to the aviation sector in the aftermath of the epidemic, and the order from the low-cost carrier is a statement of ambition from one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines.

Ryanair and a new Saudi airline Riyadh Air has lately placed substantial aircraft orders as well. However, while airlines appear to be eager to invest in new aircraft, manufacturers are unable to produce them quickly enough due to supply chain disruptions caused by the Covid shutdowns.

While this is by far the most dramatic order seen thus far at the Paris Airshow, it is far from the last.

The airplane market came to a halt during the epidemic, but carriers are now making up for lost time by modernizing their fleets and, in certain cases, rapidly expanding.