Tag Archives: Indigo

IndiGo has recorded the highest on-time performance of 80.9 per cent in May 2018, according to a report by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). On-time performance of the scheduled domestic carriers has been computed for four metros including Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai by the regulator. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, “On-time performance is core to our business and is one of the three values that IndiGo stands for. We are indeed happy to record 80.9 per cent OTP for 6E flights operating out of country’s busiest airports including Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai. We thank our over 48.53 lakh passengers who flew with IndiGo in May 2018.  IndiGo will continue to provide an on-time, courteous and hassle free service, and affordable fares to our customers, as always.” IndiGo was also ranked as 4th most punctual airline globally in the mega airline category by OAG, air travel Intelligence Company. In its annual review – Punctuality League 2018, OAG included on-time performance for the world’s Top 20 busiest domestic and international routes. IndiGo was ranked 4th amongst Top 20 mega airlines and 9th amongst Top 20 Low-cost carriers (LCCs) by OTP.

IndiGo is all set to add two more sectors connecting Tiruchirappalli by operating a direct flight between Tiruchirappalli and Bengaluru and Tiruchirappalli and Kochi. IndiGo with its seventh ATR will operate four direct flights from Chennai to Tiruchirappalli from June 1. Chief Commercial Officer Sanjay Kumar presented the airline’s expansion plan during a travel agent meet held in Tiruchirappalli. The new flights are designed to cater to business and leisure travellers who are constantly on the lookout for new and affordable flying options. The introduction of these flights will further strengthen airline’s ATR operations, and will provide enhanced connectivity between Chennai and Tiruchirappalli with all-inclusive fares starting from INR 2299. Elaborating on the new route expansion in south India, Kumar said, “Just like Coimbatore, Madurai and Chennai, Tiruchirappalli is also a key market for IndiGo in Tamil Nadu. With rising business and tourism stemming from the southern hubs, IndiGo is determined to provide the best travel experience to all those who wish to fly to these destinations. We are looking at providing affordable fares on these new routes for 6E travellers. It is our constant endeavour to provide more flexibility of choice to our customers as IndiGo continues to offer them on time, hassle-free and always affordable flying experience”

InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) has announced the appointment of Rahul Bhatia as its interim Chief Executive Officer who will continue as the director of the company. InterGlobe has also announced the appointment of Gregory Taylor as Senior Advisor to the company reporting directly to Bhatia. Aditya Ghosh will resign from the post of President of IndiGo effective July 31, 2018 and as a Director of the Company with effect from April 26, 2018. In the coming months, the Board will consider the appointment of Taylor as President and CEO of the Company, subject to receiving the necessary regulatory approvals and paperwork. Bhatia said, “We are delighted at Greg’s decision to rejoin the IndiGo team and welcome him back to the company. His enormous and varied experience and understanding of the complexities of the airline industry will be invaluable to our future plans. At the same time, we thank Aditya for all his hard work and contributions and for the successes that the company has enjoyed.” Ghosh, meanwhile, added, “For the last ten years, it has been a relentless, exhilarating and a most satisfying task building IndiGo.  It is now time for me to step off the treadmill and sometime in the near future embark on my next adventure. I wish all my colleagues at IndiGo the very best as they move on to the next phase of growth.” Taylor has more than 40 years of experience in large, world class airlines. During 2016 and 2017, he was the Executive Vice President of Revenue Management and Network Planning at IndiGo. Prior to that he held various senior management roles at United Airlines and US Airways in the areas of Corporate Planning, Strategy, …

IndiGo and SpiceJet will partially shift operations from Terminal 1 to the revamped Terminal 2 (T2) of New Delhi’s IGI airport from March 25, 2018. The IndiGo flights will be numbered from 6E 2000 to 6E 2999. The airline will operate flights to Bengaluru, Chennai, Amritsar, Bhubaneshwar, Raipur, Srinagar, Bagdogra, Udaipur, Vadodara and Vishakhapatnam from T2 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport. SpiceJet would shift seven sectors (flight nos. SG 8000 to SG 8999) to T2. These include destinations of Ahmedabad, Cochin, Goa, Gorakhpur, Patna, Pune and Surat, according to a relelase by Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL). While GoAir had decided to shift operations to T2 in October 2017, SpiceJet and Indigo decided to follow suit last month for partial shifting after the Supreme Court dismissed IndiGo’s plea challenging a Delhi High Court order on shifting operations from Terminal (T1) to T2. The shifting, however, is a temporary move to ease the pressure of fast growing traffic at T1. The move will enable the expansion works at T1 effectively, according to a DIAL statement. T1 is set to be expanded from the current capacity of 20 million to 40 million passengers per annum. With the partial shift of operations of SpiceJet and Indigo to T2, passenger area for the flyers will increase from 25,917 sqm at T1 to combined 62,010 sqm. T2 adds additional 36,093 sqm passenger area.    

IndiGo has announced the appointment of Wolfgang Prock-Schauer as the Chief Operating Officer, subject to regulatory approvals. An accomplished industry leader with more than three decades of experience in civil aviation, Schauer has held senior leadership positions with leading airlines across Europe and Asia. In his role, he will be responsible for operational aspects of IndiGo such as Flight Operations, Maintenance and Engineering and Inflight Services directly as well as Airport Operations and Operations Control Centre. He will be reporting to Aditya Ghosh, President and Whole Time Director, IndiGo. Aditya Ghosh, President and Whole-Time Director, IndiGo said, “With an illustrious career in various leadership positions, Schauer is a proven leader and I am confident that this important step in strengthening our leadership team will serve as a great building block for the future of IndiGo. Over the last year, we have elevated several colleagues internally to positions of leadership and have also attracted world class talent across verticals.” In the past, Schauer has worked with Austrian Airlines, Jet Airways (India), British Midland International, Air Berlin (Germany/ UK) and Go Air (India).    

Sharing CAPA’s forecast for 2018-19 during the Annual CAPA India Aviation Summit 2018 held in Mumbai,  Kapil Kaul, CEO & Director—South Asia, CAPA revealed some key expectations from IndiGo. He said, “IndiGo’s long-haul expansion will be aggressive and akin to a full service carrier. It will dominate the low cost carrier market which may cause some sort of friction between airlines. IndiGo may also build cross-border joint ventures but it depends on what happens with its plans for Air India, since IndiGo is one of the six possible bidders for the national carrier. IndiGo may also look at franchise as part of its cross-border plans.” Kaul added that while there might be four Indian carriers to bid for investing in Air India, there might also be two non-aviation entities and huge corporates.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has given a nod to 90 proposals for 325 routes during the second round of bidding in the UDAN regional connectivity scheme. While SpiceJet and Air India subsidiary-Alliance Air have been a part of the scheme from the first round itself, IndiGo and Jet Airways participated in the second round only. R N Choubey, Secretary, Civil Aviation, said, “In all, we got 141 proposals for 502 routes (for both planes and choppers). Out of 325, 129 routes are in a newly created category of ‘priority areas’ that include Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal, Uttarakhand, North East, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands.” IndiGo has got 20 routes Kannur-Bangalore; Kannur-Trivandrum; Cochin-Hubli-Goa; Bangalore-Allahabad-Pune; Nagpur-Bhubaneswar-Allahabad; Mumbai-Allahabad; Hindon-Allahabad-Dehradun; Hindon-Gorakhpur-Allahabad and Hindon-Jaisalamer-Udaipur. SpiceJet was awarded 20 new sectors. “Out of these 20, 15 will cater to unserved markets of Kannur (Kerala), Darbhanga (Bihar), Ozar (Nashik), Pakyong (Sikkim), Kishangarh (Rajasthan).” Alliance Air has got 18 routes like Nashik-Ahmedabad-Kandla; Hyderabad-Kohlapur; Hubli-Hyderabad; Bikaner-Jaipur and Jammu-Bhatinda. Jet has got four proposals.  

In its endeavour to strengthen its growing network, IndiGo has commenced operations in Colombo, Sri Lanka. With touch-down of 6E-1202 (Chennai-Colombo) at Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo became its eighth international and 49th overall destination on IndiGo’s network. The maiden flight was welcomed on January 20 with the traditional water cannon salute followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony. Commenting on the launch, Capt Ashim Mittra, VP Flight Operations, IndiGo said, “IndiGo is delighted to commence its new daily services to and from Colombo. These new connections will not only boost corporate and leisure travel but also contribute to significant growth in cross border trade and commerce. We are hopeful that these new flights will provide affordable travel experience to our passengers across the country and beyond.” Malinga Arsakularatne, Managing Director, Hemas Leisure Travel Aviation Group (IndiGo’s GSA) added, “We are honoured to partner with IndiGo in strengthening tourism to and from India. Together, we can create benefits for travellers and shareholders.”

IndiGo has expanded its regional network by commencing ATR operations from Rajahmundry. Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Nimmakayala China Rajappa along with Sanjeev Ramdas, Executive Vice President, Customer Service & Operations Control, IndiGo recently flagged off the flight from Rajahmundry to Chennai at Rajahmundry Airport. Rajahmundry will be connected to Hyderabad with twice daily frequencies, and one direct daily frequency each on Rajahmundry–Bangalore–Rajahmundry and Rajahmundry–Chennai–Rajahmundry sectors. IndiGo is the only airline that connects Rajahmundry with direct flights to three major metros of southern India, namely Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad from day one of its operations.  

Sharing its operational plans from Colombo, IndiGo has announced that Colombo will become its eighth international destination effective January 20, 2018 with daily direct flights from Chennai and Bengaluru. With these new flights, the airline will also offer connections to and from Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and other major Indian cities. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, “It gives us immense pleasure to add Colombo to our growing network, which will not only help us cater to the growing tourist potential of the city, but also provide affordable travel options to the Indian workforce who can now look forward to visiting the city more frequently. We are also delighted to partner with Hemas as our GSA partner in Sri Lanka for our sales and distribution services.” Malinga Arsakularatne, Managing Director, Hemas Leisure Travel Aviation Group added, “We welcome IndiGo to Sri Lanka and it is indeed our great pleasure to embark on this exciting partnership. We are confident that the team at Hemas Aviation would deliver the growth ambitions of the airline. We look forward to a long-lasting and a win-win relationship with IndiGo.”