IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi International) will order an additional ten A320N family aircraft, according to a September 4 filing with the Mumbai Stock Exchange (BSE). The aircraft are drawn against a 2019 order for 300 planes, effectively increasing that order to 310 aircraft.

The BSE filing did not reveal the specific type of A320N family aircraft IndiGo wanted. However, an IndiGo spokesperson told ch-aviation that the incoming aircraft will be A320-200Ns. The October 2019 order comprised a mix of A320-200Ns, A321-200Ns, and A321-200NY(XLR)s. Other than forty ATR72-600s used for thin domestic routes and two wet-leased B777-300ERs used to fly between India and Türkiye, IndiGo is a narrowbody Airbus operator, with twenty A320-200s, 177 A320-200Ns, and ninety-two A321neo(XLR)s currently in its fleet. The spokesperson said he anticipates the ten aircraft to be delivered by the end of the decade

In addition to the 300 aircraft ordered from Airbus in 2019, IndiGo doubled down in June, ordering a further 500 narrowbodies. According to ch-aviation fleets data, the airline's order book comprises 293 A320-200Ns, a single A321-200, 375 A321-200Ns, 229 A321-200NX, and sixty-nine A321neo(XLR)s. There are also an additional ten ATR72-600s on order with that manufacturer.

The incoming aircraft help cement IndiGo's position as India's largest domestic airline. The carrier commands a 59% domestic market. That dominance is one reason why rival Air India and its low-cost subsidiaries are undergoing a series of mergers, figuring their consolidated operational heft go some way to challenging IndiGo.

Separately, like Air India, IndiGo will also set up an aircraft leasing unit in Gujarat’s GIFT City with an investment of INR300 million Indian rupees (USD3.6 million) over three years. In August, Air India said it would establish an aircraft leasing entity called AI Fleet Services IFSC Limited within the special economic zone. IndiGo says it will provide corporate guarantees of up to USD996 million to secure the payment obligations of their new leasing unit.

“Investment of up to INR300 million in one or more tranches through equity, quasi-equity, optionally convertible preference shares, optionally convertible debt instruments, or any combination thereof," IndiGo said about their new leasing entity.

GIFT City is an Indian government-back venture to lure aircraft lessors to set up in India. Among other things, the Indian government offers potential lessors multiple financial incentives, including tax benefits for ten years from business profits, no capital gains tax, no stamp duty, and no GST on transactions carried out through the entity.