The nation’s largest airline IndiGo, which is “back with a bang”, is wanting to begin flights to Nairobi, Jakarta and some central Asian locations because the provider focuses on internationalisation, in accordance to its chief Pieter Elbers.
Amid intensifying competitors and Air India set for growth with large aircraft orders, the IndiGo chief asserted that there’s a lot of development forward within the Indian market that “justifies multiple airlines”.
“There is a lot going on in the Indian aviation landscape… The fact that Indian aviation is getting into the next stage, including the consolidation being done under the Air India group, is a natural evolution of the market.
“I look to the competitors. It is nice to have competitors however it will likely be a contest that’s going hand-in-hand with the expansion of the market,” Mr. Elbers told PTI in an interview here.
IndiGo, which has more than 300 planes in its fleet, currently operates to 76 domestic and 26 international destinations. Flights to two more domestic destinations — Nashik and Dharamshala — have also been announced.
According to him, the Indian aviation market, which is very vibrant and dynamic, is recovering very strongly.
“IndiGo is again with a bang,” Mr. Elbers said, adding that the economic growth of India is helping IndiGo move forward and the network of IndiGo is further helping boost economic growth locally.
The airline operates around 1,800 flights daily and in terms of current seat offerings, it is roughly 80 per cent domestic and 20 per cent international.
“We will possible introduce new flights to Nairobi (Kenya) and Jakarta (Indonesia) on this coming summer season. We are central Asia at a couple of locations however that has not but been determined… Internationalisation is a giant a part of our agenda,” Mr. Elbers said.
Further, he noted that Nairobi and Jakarta are two important points to connect with tourism, business and Indian diaspora. “So, all that mixed, now we have an awesome proposition”.
“With additional development of India and the place of India mixed with {our capability} much more so when XLRs are coming in, we’re very bold of making extra worldwide connectivity. A big a part of (worldwide journey by Indians) at the moment is taken by worldwide carriers. For us as Indian carriers we will have the next share,” the IndiGo chief said.
For the three months ended December 2022, IndiGo reported a sharp rise in profit at ₹1,422.6 crore and its highest-ever quarterly total income at ₹15,410.2 crore as travel demand remained strong.
The budget airline carried 2.23 crore passengers in the December quarter and its domestic market share in 2022 stood at 56.1 per cent.
On starting operations with wide-body Boeing 777 aircraft, the IndiGo chief pointed out that it was the first step born out of the need for capacity.
“The market is rising and we have been confronted with the provision chain state of affairs, we actually wanted capability. The flight has been there for 2 weeks and we see a really constructive response from the market. Code shares positioned past Istanbul are working very effectively,” he said.
On wet lease from Turkish Airlines, IndiGo started operating the B777 aircraft on Delhi-Istanbul route from February 1. The plane has a seating capacity for 400 passengers with economy and business classes.
Without giving specific details about the Aircraft on Ground (AOG) situation, the IndiGo chief said it is “mainly a steady state of affairs”.
“We have stabilised the provision chain state of affairs and we’re speaking with suppliers to have a great assist in coping with it. We have prolonged the leases, now we have the moist lease… we may have a capability for the overall fiscal 12 months 2023 which may be very a lot in keeping with the preliminary plan,” he said.
The supply chain woes have been impacting airline industry worldwide resulting in delays in deliveries of aircraft.
Mr. Elbers also sought to emphasise that IndiGo operates almost 1,800 flights every day and wide-body flight is one of them.
On the airline’s plans for wide-body planes going forward, Mr. Elbers said it has always kept the option of wide-body aircraft open but did not divulge specific details.
“IndiGo has by no means dominated out any  possibility. We do have a big order e-book. We have nearly 500 plane on order… now we have a gentle stream of deliveries coming. Our focus and emphasis might be on that half. We do have the XLRs order that may additional stretch the vary of operations for IndiGo,” he said.
The airline has placed order with Airbus for A321XLR aircraft, which will have a longer range, and these planes are expected in 2024-25, depending on the aircraft maker’s delivery schedule.
When asked whether there could be a possibility of IndiGo converting some of the planes on order into wide-body, Mr. Elbers said the focus of the aircraft order is to serve its today’s network.
While noting that the airline has continued to optimise its products, he said it consistently reviews what is going on in the market and stressed on the three customer promises.
“All these parts are available in at extra trade-offs to be made and for us to proceed on the trail of reasonably priced fares is a really essential half,” Mr. Elbers mentioned.
