Airline Outlook on the Reuters report that IndiGo is in early talks with Embraer for 100 regional jets, with three models on the table.
What the video covers
Written in our own words. It only describes what the video shows and says.Airline Outlook looks at a Reuters report that IndiGo, India's biggest airline, is negotiating to buy 100 Embraer regional jets with an option on about 50 more. According to the video, the report appeared on 4 November and was based on three people with direct knowledge of the matter. The talks are at an early stage. The model has not been chosen, the numbers could still change and there is no guarantee of a deal. Deliveries would start in 2030 at the earliest and neither company commented. JPMorgan analysts put the value of a 100 jet order at about $5.1 billion after a typical discount.
From two aircraft types to a possible third
Airline Outlook describes an airline that has always kept things simple. In June 2023 IndiGo ordered 500 Airbus A320 family jets at the Paris Airshow, which the video calls the largest single order Airbus had received. The one exception came in November 2017 with the first ATR 72-600, delivered in Toulouse. Regional flights began that December from Hyderabad. IndiGo now flies 44 ATRs alongside a mostly Airbus narrowbody fleet. This is not its first look at a larger regional order: in May 2024, reports said it was weighing around 100 aircraft from ATR, Airbus or Embraer, with ATR widely tipped as the favourite.
Willie Walsh and the Delhi hub
The video points to the change at the top. Willie Walsh, the former British Airways and IAG chief, became IndiGo's chief executive in August. He wants to grow long-haul flying without weakening the low-cost short-haul business. IndiGo has 60 Airbus A350-900s on firm order, with the first due in 2027. It plans to grow from 442 aircraft to about 600 by 2030. Those widebodies need passengers. Travel Extra reported in September that regional aircraft could feed smaller Indian cities into Delhi as IndiGo builds the airport into a global hub.
Three Embraer models and the risk for ATR
Reuters says the talks cover three models. The E175 seats up to 88 passengers, while the E190-E2 and E195-E2 seat up to 114 and 146 with newer, more fuel-efficient engines. The ATR 72-600 seats up to 78. Airline Outlook says a jet would add seats on busy regional routes and fly faster on longer ones. It also notes that India is the world's third-largest domestic aviation market, yet Star Air is the only Indian airline flying Embraer jets today.
In February, Embraer and Adani Defence and Aerospace signed an agreement to explore a final assembly line for the E175 in India. Embraer chief executive Francisco Gomes Neto told Reuters in March that the plan depended on orders for at least 200 aircraft. With orders by the end of this year, he said, Indian-built jets could be delivered from 2028. Airline Outlook says 100 jets plus options would take Embraer halfway to that target, but the Indian line is planned for the first-generation E175. If IndiGo picks the larger E2 jets, the order would do less for Indian assembly.
For ATR, the video sees a plain risk: Reuters says Embraer jets could replace some of IndiGo's turboprops on routes ATR has served for the airline since 2017. Nothing is signed yet. The aircraft, the numbers and the timing are all still open. IndiGo has also studied regional orders before without placing one. Airline Outlook argues that a new chief executive, a hub to fill and a strong Embraer push in India give these talks more weight.
