2024-05-14 15:17:41
New Delhi: India’s largest airline IndiGo is preparing to order at least 100 small aircraft. The company is planning to expand its regional network. For this he needs small planes. According to sources, its ATR is in talks with Embraer and Airbus. IndiGo already operates 45 ATR-72 aircraft with 78 seaters. This year the company will get five more aircraft. ATR is a joint company of France and Italy. Sources say that Indigo is expected to buy ATR’s aircraft. With this, IndiGo will become the airline operating the largest number of ATR aircraft in the world. Currently this record is held by Wings Air of Indonesia which operates 74 ATR aircraft. However, Airbus A220 and Embraer E-175 aircraft are also in the race. IndiGo had placed an order for 500 aircraft with Airbus last year, which was the largest order in the history of aviation. IndiGo is strengthening its network in the country after international routes. Earlier on April 25, the airline announced that it was ordering 30 Airbus A350-900 aircraft, its first order for the wide-body aircraft. The ATRs are turboprops, while the other two are jets. Apart from the ATR, IndiGo’s fleet includes the Airbus A320 and A321. The company also has two Boeing 777s from its codeshare partner Turkish Airlines on short-term lease. IndiGo has 60% share in India’s domestic air traffic. The company is looking at opportunities in less populated cities. Better airport infrastructure and the government’s UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme are expected to increase demand for air traffic in these cities. Its objective is to develop and promote regional air connectivity.
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indigo flight
ATR had earlier said it expected India to become the company’s biggest market in the next decade due to growth in regional air connectivity. Jean-Pierre Clercin, ATR’s Asia-Pacific commercial head, said in February that people want more convenience and less travel time. Other means of transport are increasing, but not at the pace of demand. Therefore, the role of regional aviation is huge. An ATR spokesperson declined to comment on the matter. Representatives of IndiGo, Embraer and Airbus also did not comment.
In 2017, IndiGo ordered 50 ATR-72 aircraft. With this it entered the regional aviation market, which was monopolized by SpiceJet with its Bombardier Q400 aircraft. IndiGo has continuously expanded its operations and today the company operates flights to 60 cities of the country. Recently the airline has started flights to Gondia, Lakshadweep, Jagdalpur, Jharsuguda and Dharamshala. An IndiGo official said the ATR-72 has helped in growing the network. This has made it cheaper to fly to new destinations. There are not enough passengers on these routes to fill the 180-seat Airbus A320.
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What is Indigo’s plan?
“But once IndiGo is able to establish reliable connectivity, the market size will increase, which will help the airline induct the larger A320 or A321 jets,” the official said. Most of the airlines in the country are facing financial crisis. Due to this, they have not been able to continue flights on the UDAN routes. The successful bidder gets exclusive rights for three years in the UDAN scheme. But airlines like SpiceJet and Flybig have usually stopped flights on those routes after this period ends. For example, in October last year, IndiGo started flights to Jharsuguda in Odisha, after which SpiceJet stopped flying on that route.
A travel agent said that with the advent of IndiGo, the reliability of the service has increased as there are very few incidents of ticket cancellations now. The smaller aircraft have also provided IndiGo with greater flexibility, enabling the airline to operate flights between two cities during non-peak hours. Government officials said that investment in regional connectivity will increase after the elections as it has been proven that it increases economic productivity. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had said in January that the Center planned to invest Rs 1 lakh crore to increase the number of airports from 148 to 200 in the next four years.