Airbus has said that IndiGo and Air India have become two of its three largest airline customers globally in terms of aircraft backlog. According to Benoit de Saint-Exupery, Executive Vice President (sales, commercial aircraft) at Airbus, the European aerospace company has to deliver 916 aircraft to IndiGo and 344 to Air India. A majority of these aircraft are narrow-body models.Malaysia-based AirAsia Group, which earlier operated a joint venture airline in India with the Tata Group, holds the second position with 393 planes in its backlog.Speaking in Delhi during the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting, Benoit offered a positive update for airlines waiting for delayed aircraft deliveries. “We are seeing the first signs of stability in supply chain. We (are) now back to the pre-Covid level of producing 60 A320 family of single aisle planes every month and hope to increase this number to 75 by 2027. We have the orders and are ramping up production and every commercial (Airbus) aircraft that's flying going forward will be made partly made in India,” he said.When asked whether the combined order book of 1,750 aircraft from IndiGo and Air India makes a case for a final assembly line (FAL) in India, Benoit said, “We will have final assembly lines on the other products (one for H125 helicopters for its civil range and other for C295 military aircraft). On commercial aircraft side, we are looking at expanding our footprint with industry here in India. Sourcing from India has much value than an FAL for commercial aircraft and we are constantly increasing the same from here.”Benoit added that Airbus sourcing from India stood at $500 million in 2020. That figure crossed $1 billion in 2023 and reached $1.4 billion last year. “We will reach $2 billion before the end of the decade,” he said.Remi Maillard, President of Airbus India and Managing Director of South Asia region, said, “India is not only a market for us. It has become a strategic resource and industrial base for Airbus.”Speaking again on the delays in deliveries caused by supply chain disruptions, Benoit said, “Now we are seeing the first signs of stability in the supply chain. But you, you never quite rest because, as we all know, the situation can change quite quickly nowadays.”The rising backlog of aircraft to Indian carriers highlights the country’s growing importance in the global aviation market. At the same time, Airbus’s increasing sourcing from India reflects the company’s broader strategy of deepening its industrial engagement in the country, even as it focuses on production ramp-up to meet global demand.(with ToI inputs)