Paris Air Show: Kingfisher announces 50-plane, $7bn deal with Airbus

Le Bourget, France: Kingfisher Airlines has announced a preliminary 50-plane deal with Airbus, including an extra 15 A350-800 XWB jets, worth $7.2 billion at list prices. The order also includes five A340-500 planes, 10 A330-200 wide-body models and 20 single-aisle A320-family jets.

On the side, the deal will also be worth $1 billion for Rolls Royce, for supply of engines on the A340-500 and A350-800, for which it is the sole supplier.

Kingfisher had already ordered five of the original version of the A350, which it has now upgraded to the redesigned A350 XWB model. The extra order for 15 A350 XWBs brings the total order for these aircraft to 20.

Kingfisher Airlines already has five A380 superjumbos on order, as well as a backlog of 86 A320 short-to-medium range, single-aisle jets, along with 10 A330/340 family aircraft. In all, the orders make Kingfisher one of the largest customers for Airbus aircraft.

The A320 numbers include 58 planes yet to be delivered to Deccan Aviation, a low-cost carrier in which Kingfisher parent, UB Holdings, recently acquired a 26 per cent stake.

Vijay Mallya, chairman of Kingfisher, said that he was happy with the overall price of the new 50-plane order. Airbus, meanwhile, said that the provisional deal would be converted into a firm one in weeks.