US Private Equity fund Indigo Partners and three of its airlines will acquire 50 Airbus A321XLR aircraft, 18 of which will be converted from existing orders and 32 new orders.
Indigo has major ownership in several low cost airlines, including Frontier, Wizz Air, Volaris, and JetSmert. The four carriers operate 295 Airbus aircraft and have 636 on order,
WizzAir, based in Budapest, will take 20 of the new aircraft to add long-haul service to its route network.
Frontier, based in Denver, is looking to expand transcontinental and Hawaiian operations in the US, and the additional range ensures winter transcontinental operations against heavy winds.
JetSmart, in Chile, will take 12 of the aircraft for its fleet for long-range flights in Latin America and potential route expansion.