IndiGo to add 10 new destinations in FY25
Reuters
Synopsis
India’s largest airline, IndiGo, plans to start 10 new destinations in FY25, including Mauritius and another destination in Thailand. The airline focuses on fast international expansion and is entering the long haul market with business class in their aircraft.
By Arindam Majumder, ET Online
India’s largest airline will start 10 new destinations in FY25, as it speeds up expansion on the international front. The destinations include a mix of domestic and international. “We will be flying to Mauritius and add another destination in Thailand,” the airline’s CEO Pieter Elbers said on the sideline of the Annual General meeting of International Air Transport Association (IATA) at Dubai.
The capacity expansion comes on the back of record profit in FY 24. Despite facing grounding of more than 70 planes due issues with Pratt & Whitney engines, Elbers said the airline has been able to maintain its capacity guidance.
Much like its domestic strategy, IndiGo has focused on a fast expansion strategy on international routes too. The airline recently announced a major change in strategy to foray into the long haul market and have business class in their aircraft. “We now have a whole generation coming up that has never flown business class. Similarly, years ago there was a whole generation in India, that’d never taken a plane, who then became our first-time fliers,” Elbers said.
The carrier, he said, sees a significant opportunity in international travel out of India. “The accumulative share of Indian carriers is significantly lower than the share of foreign carriers and clearly given the fact that the market is in India itself, that’s a bit odd. We are starting to build on getting our share in those markets and a lot of the recent initiatives are helping us regain that,” he said.
The correspondent is in Dubai at invitation of IATA
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At present the airline flies to 122 destinations which include 88 domestic and 33 international.The capacity expansion comes on the back of record profit in FY 24. Despite facing grounding of more than 70 planes due issues with Pratt & Whitney engines, Elbers said the airline has been able to maintain its capacity guidance.
Much like its domestic strategy, IndiGo has focused on a fast expansion strategy on international routes too. The airline recently announced a major change in strategy to foray into the long haul market and have business class in their aircraft. “We now have a whole generation coming up that has never flown business class. Similarly, years ago there was a whole generation in India, that’d never taken a plane, who then became our first-time fliers,” Elbers said.
The carrier, he said, sees a significant opportunity in international travel out of India. “The accumulative share of Indian carriers is significantly lower than the share of foreign carriers and clearly given the fact that the market is in India itself, that’s a bit odd. We are starting to build on getting our share in those markets and a lot of the recent initiatives are helping us regain that,” he said.
The correspondent is in Dubai at invitation of IATA
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