As reported by industry sources, IndiGo, India's largest carrier by market share, is preparing to sign a record deal with Airbus to purchase 500 narrow-body A320-family jets.

According to a source on the sidelines of an airline industry meeting in Istanbul, Airbus has emerged as the front-runner for the order, which will surpass Air India's provisional purchase of nearly 470 jets in February.

As per aircraft analysts, such a deal would be worth around $50 billion at the most recent Airbus list prices, but would typically be worth less than half that after widespread airline industry discounts for bulk deals.

Airbus and Boeing are also competing in separate talks to sell 25 A330neo or Boeing 787 wide-body jets to the same airline, they said.

IndiGo, which has a 56% market share in India, was in talks with both Airbus and Boeing about the order, which if confirmed would be the largest by a single airline in terms of units.

IndiGo's potential new order comes as it has yet to receive nearly 500 jets out of a total order of 830 Airbus A320-family planes, making it one of the European group's largest customers.

On Sunday, the head of a group representing global airlines renewed pressure on plane makers to speed up plane and part production, warning that delays would reduce airline capacity as demand for air travel nears full recovery from the pandemic.

Airbus and Boeing have blamed supply chains for delivery delays, while bottlenecks in a network of engine repair shops have also forced airlines to ground dozens of jets.

Airbus and Boeing have been racking up billions of dollars of new orders stretching beyond 2030 as airlines lock in supplies well ahead amid looming shortages.