Paris: Late in the afternoon on Wednesday, (October 9), European manufacturer Airbus announced that an unnamed customer had placed a massive order for over $6 billion in aircraft.

The secretive nature of this purchase is nothing new for the industry, not just for the usual reasons of carriers attempting to keep their fleet strategies a well-kept trade secret to their competitors.

Furthermore, Air India was in mourning as the former chairman of the Tata Group, the company that owns the national airline, Ratan Tata, had recently passed away, leaving behind a legacy as a pioneer in Indian commercial aviation.

This historic purchase of 75 Airbus A320-family aircraft and 10 ultra-long-haul Airbus A350 jets, helps underscore the carrier's goals for future short, medium, and long-haul expansion. Multiple industry sources have since indicated that Air India is the airline behind this mysterious order, which comes less than a year after the airline ordered nearly 500 new aircraft from both Airbus and American manufacturer Boeing, all in a long-awaited attempt to drastically revamp its fleet infrastructure.

The airline, which had maintained several order options following its purchases last year from Airbus and Boeing, has reportedly exhausted all of its options when placing the mystery order that was announced by Airbus in its monthly update .

With the passing of Tata, who was 86 years old and had long been the patriarch of the Tata family, Air India's parent company will look towards a new leadership figure for guidance as it charts its path forward.

-B