IndiGo To Have 12 More Aircraft In 6 Months

Friday, 21st November 2014 at 01:50am

The low-cost carrier has been aggressively pursuing its expansion plans to quell the impending threat by new-comers, fellow budget airline AirAsia India and full-service carrier, Vistara.

Over the next six months, the airline will be adding 12 more planes to augment its fleet that currently stands at 85 aircraft.

IndiGo now dominates in the country's domestic travel market taking a massive 33% share. Before the emergence of privately-run carriers in the country, Air India enjoyed a monopoly in the country's commercial aviation business for many decades.

IndiGo entered India's commercial aviation business rather late, in 2006�"relatively younger than most of its fiercest rivals today.

IndiGo is the only airline in India that has always been profitable since it commenced operations. In 2010, or four years into its operations, it surprised the industry when it dislodged the state-owned Air India, as the country's third largest airline in terms of market share.

It has been aggressively expanding rapidly that, in the middle of 2012, it became the biggest airline in India, dislodging erstwhile leader, Jet Airways.

The addition of 12 more aircraft signifies the airline's continuing expansion into the next five years. The entry of new players in the country somehow gives IndiGo a challenge to take on to keep its dominant position.

Currently, the low-cost carrier has 85 aircraft in its fleet. The 12 aircraft that will be coming will be leased from Singapore's Tigerair. The said fleet expansion over a 6-month period is said to be the airline's biggest since 2006. Typically, between 10 and 14 aircraft are added to its fleet each year.

The first of the 12 planes will arrive next week. All of them will be configured to accommodate 180 passengers in an all-economy layout. They will be leased for a duration of three years.

By April next year, IndiGo will have 96 aircraft. Also starting next year, the airline will begin to take delivery of the fuel-efficient A320neo.

The airline's current fleet size pales in comparison to the world's biggest and America's low-cost carrier, Southwest Airlines, which has 632 planes. JetBlue, another low-cost carrier from America, has 203 aircraft in its fleet. Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost airline has a fleet size of 301 planes.

By: Pete Lee.