According to Pieter Elbers, the CEO of IndiGo, the airline is about to enter the next phase of its growth and must maintain cost leadership. Now, IndiGo has a fleet of more than 300 aircraft and flys 1,800 trips every day. Elbers stated, “We are starting the next phase of expansion,” during a CAPA India Aviation Summit session held in the capital. He emphasised that the nation’s aviation industry has made a V-shaped comeback and that learning has played a role.
All About IndiGo’s Next Phase
After being severely impacted by the coronavirus outbreak, the aviation industry is making tremendous progress toward recovery, and domestic flight traffic has almost reached pre-pandemic levels. Elbers noted that sustaining cost leadership is essential and emphasized the significance of reasonable fares.
The low-cost airline holds a market share of more than 55%, making it the largest airline in the nation. Elbers responded to a question by stating that the Indian aviation industry will transition to more sustainable financing and that the market is more stable.
The airline’s operations are being expanded internationally. It intends to launch flights to Nairobi, Jakarta, and a few locations in central Asia. Interglobe Aviation Ltd.’s efforts to capitalize on the tourism boom in India and around the world are being hampered by a lack of planes, according to chief executive officer Pieter Elbers on Monday.
In an interview, Elbers cited pressure brought on by the lack of available aircraft supply and said, “There is an opportunity in the markets where we would like to serve our clients and we cannot do it now to the extent we would like to do that. India’s aviation industry is expanding as demand for flying has increased from its post-pandemic lows.”
Boeing and Airbus are battling to fill the overflowing order book due to the increased demand for new aircraft around the world. 500 aircraft are on order for IndiGo, which will provide the airline with “a constant flow” of deliveries through the end of the decade, according to Elbers. For the next one to two years, Indian airlines are expected to place at least 1,300 more orders, according to aviation consultancy CAPA India, weeks after Air India placed a record purchase for 470 jets.
According to industry sources who spoke to Reuters earlier this month, IndiGo, which until now has been an exclusive purchaser of Airbus’s narrow-body aircraft, is also in talks with Boeing to break Air India’s record by placing an order for more than 500 passenger aircraft. Almost 400 of the airline’s total orders of 830 aircraft from the Airbus A320 family have not yet been delivered. Elbers stated that for the A321 XLRs, Airbus’ newest and largest narrowboy aircraft, the delivery trajectory is “all work in progress”.
