DUBAI: Airbus took a mega-order for 255 single-aisle A321 aircraft on Sunday, the European plane-maker said in a statement, on the first day of a major air show in Dubai. It said the order came from Wizz Air, Frontier, Volaris and JetSMART — all from US company Indigo Partners — for a total value of more than $33 billion, according to the latest list price published by Airbus in 2018.

The total cost of the order was not disclosed, but list rates are rarely applied to large deliveries.

Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air will receive 102 aircraft, American Frontier Airlines will receive 91, while 39 will go to Mexico’s Volaris and 23 to Chilean JetSMART.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said that because the four companies fall under the same aviation-focused equity firm, it allowed for a large order and for an attractive price, adding: “It’s a give and take situation.”

Deliveries are set to begin in 2025.

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The embattled aviation industry flocked to the Dubai Airshow on Sunday as it emerges from coronavirus pandemic travel restrictions and faces pressure to reduce its impact on climate change.

The five-day event in the United Arab Emirates is the industry’s first large gathering since Covid-19 clipped the sector’s wings last year, when border closures left airports deserted and hundreds of aircraft idle.

Air traffic has bounced back since then, though it was still 53 percent lower in September than its pre-pandemic levels.

Indigo Partners chief Bill Franke said the company wanted “to be early in the (recovery) process”.

Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and head of Airbus International, said the Indigo Partners airlines had “acted fast and decisively over the last few months to position themselves for this landmark order as the effect of the pandemic recedes and the world wants more sustainable flying”.