- Sunday, April 27, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Guillaume Faury, chief executive of aircraft-manufacturing giant Airbus, has hailed the giant deal between the company and India’s Tata Group involving 250 aircraft. The Indian conglomerate is set to buy the planes in what is called the biggest deal in the world’s aviation history.
The deal includes 40 A350 wide-body long-range aircraft and 210 narrow-body ones, believed to be variants of the A320neo family for Air India, which the Tata Group took over last year and is planning to revive on a grand scale.
“It is a historic moment for Airbus to help script Air India’s revival,” Faury said in a video conference with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, veteran industrialist Ratan Tata, French president Emmanuel Macron and other leaders.
The deal with Airbus, expected to be worth more than $100 billion, is part of a huge order placed by Air India for 470 planes, which is also likely to include 220 jets from Boeing.
“This contract is a milestone in the friendly relations between India and France,” Macron said at the conference, where India’s commerce and trade minister Piyush Goyal and aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran were also present.
Modi said on the occasion that India is set to become the third-largest player in the aviation sector.
“India will need 2,500 aircraft in the next 15 years,” he added.
According to Airbus, A350s are capable of flying efficiently on any sector — from short-haul to ultra-long-haul routes up to 17,000 kilometres, carrying 300 to 410 passengers in typical three-class configurations, and up to 480 passengers in a single-class layout.
Airbus’ narrow-body aircraft include the A320 and A220 family of planes.
Many airlines in India already fly the A320-type aircraft.
