Jump to content

IndiGo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 71.135.164.241 (talk) at 17:27, 2 February 2013 (→‎Fleet: wikify dry leased). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other uses, see Indigo and Indigo (disambiguation).
IndiGo
IATA ICAO Callsign
6E IGO IFLY
Founded2006
Commenced operations4 August 2006
Hubs
Secondary hubs
Focus cities
Frequent-flyer programIndiGo Corporate Program
Fleet size62
Destinations33
Parent companyInterGlobe Enterprises
HeadquartersGurgaon, Haryana, India
Key peopleRahul Bhatia, MD
Aditya Ghosh, President
ProfitIncrease ₹650 crore (US$78 million) (2011)
Websitewww.goindigo.in

IndiGo is a private, low-cost carrier based in Gurgaon, Haryana, India.[1] The airline started operations in August 2006 and it is the largest low cost carrier in India.[2] By March 2012 it was the only airline in India making profits.[3][4] On 17 August 2012, IndiGo became the largest airline in India in terms of market share (27%),[5] dethroning Jet Airways, which had held the position for many years. The airline had reached the position just six years after operations commenced, making it one of the fastest growing airlines in South Asia.[5] In January 2013, IndiGo became India's first airline to take the delivery of the Airbus A320-200 aircraft equipped with sharklets. Aditya Ghosh, IndiGo's president said that this move would help them reduce fuel burn.[6]

Being a low-cost carrier, none of IndiGo's flights have Business class or First class sections. It offers only Economy class seating. To keep fares low, IndiGo offers a basic service no in-flight entertainment or complimentary meals although it does have a buy-on board in-flight meal programme.[7] IndiGo offers a premium service called IndiGo Plus, where the passengers, at a higher fare, can avail additional benefits like a pre-assigned seat and a complementary meal on board.[8] It also offers a service called IndiGo Corporate Program for corporate travellers.[9] In early 2013, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation announced with, along with Indonesian airline Lion Air, IndiGo was the second most fastest growing low-cost carrier.[10]

History

2000s

IndiGo was set up in early 2006 by Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia, of InterGlobe Enterprises. InterGlobe holds 51.12% stake in IndiGo and 48% is held by Caelum Investments, a Virginia, US based firm, run by Rakesh Gangwal.[11] IndiGo placed a firm order of 100 Airbus A320-200 aircraft during June 2005 in plans to commence operations in mid 2006.[12] IndiGo took delivery of its first Airbus A320-200 aircraft on 28 July 2006, nearly one year after placing the order, and commenced operations on 4 August 2006 with a service from New Delhi to Imphal via Guwahati. By the end of 2006, the airline had six aircraft. Nine more aircraft were acquired in 2007 taking the total to 15.

2010s

By December 2010, IndiGo replaced the state run flag carrier Air India as the top third airline in India. It already had a 17.3% of the market share, behind Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways.[13] By early 2012, IndiGo had taken the delivery of its 50th aircraft in less than 6 years. IndiGo is known to have placed the largest order in commercial aviation history during 2011 at that time, when Airbus won the US$ 15 billion deal for 180 aircraft. This deal pushed up the percentage of Airbus aircraft in India to 73%.[14] In February 2012, IndiGo was expanding rapidly and was making solid profits, the only airline in India to do so. It had replaced Kingfisher as the second largest airline in India in terms of market share. IndiGo's strong adherence to the low cost model, buying only one type of aircraft and keeping operational costs as low as possible along with heavy emphasis on punctuality are said to be some of the reasons for its success even when the airline industry in India is currently going through a bad patch. IndiGo focuses on adding a new plane every six weeks and sometimes even faster. However, this rapid expansion had led to a scathing report by the DGCA in December 2011, which highlighted problems in the airline which could impact safety due to rapid expansion.[15]

Destinations

An IndiGo A320 at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi loading before take off to Coimbatore
Main article: IndiGo destinations

IndiGo operates to 33 destinations in India and abroad with 373 flights each day. Unlike most low cost carriers, IndiGo uses a hub and spoke model used by full service airlines where the airline flights to different destinations are routed through its hub.[16] In January 2011 IndiGo received a license to operate international flights after completing five years of operations.[17] IndiGo's first international service was launched between New Delhi and Dubai on 1 September 2011.[18] Over the following weeks, the international services were expanded to serve Bangkok, Singapore, Muscat and Kathmandu from New Delhi and Mumbai.[19] Indigo had applied to operate to Dammam and Doha but due to restrictions, applied by the civil aviation ministry to protect Air India, permission was not given until 15 February 2012.[20]

Fleet

The interior of an IndiGo A320
File:IndiGo DXB.jpg
An IndiGo A320 taxiing to the gate after landing at the Dubai International Airport

In order to reduce operational overhead, IndiGo operates only the Airbus A320 family of aircraft in its fleet. It generally purchases new aircraft. As of January 2013, IndiGo operates 60 such aircraft and the average fleet age is 2.3 years.[21]

IndiGo Fleet[22]
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers
(Economy) 		Notes
Airbus A320-200 63 67 180 34 dry leased
(sale and lease-back)
Airbus A320neo — 150[23] 180 Deliveries starting 2016
Total 63 207
Fleet expansion info
  • The carrier aimed to have a fleet size of 40 aircraft by 2010, and induct all the 100 aircraft it had ordered by 2015–2016.[24] In February 2012, IndiGo took the delivery of its 50th aircraft.
  • On January 15, 2013, the first IndiGo A320-200 was rolled out with sharklets. The airplane, registered VT-IFH, is IndiGo's 62nd aircraft and it was delivered less than two weeks later.[25]
  • The Airbus A320neo family aircraft will be delivered between 2016 and 2025.[26]
New aircraft orders
  • IndiGo placed an order for 100 Airbus A320 family aircraft during the 2005 Paris Air Show. The total order was worth US$6 billion, one of the highest during the show.[27][28]
  • IndiGo signed a Memorandum of Understanding for an additional 180 Airbus A320 aircraft including 150 with the New Engine Option (NEO) on 11 January 2011. This is one of the largest orders of its kind in commercial aviation history. IndiGo is also one of the launch customers of the brand new Airbus A320neo family. The cost of the order is expected to have exceeded US$ 15 billion.[29][30]

Livery

IndiGo's livery is mostly painted in Indigo and white colours. The bottoms of the aircraft are painted in Indigo, followed by sky blue stripes below the wings. The upper portion is given a white background along with the airline's name written in Indigo. A dot-line structure of an aircraft is painted near the noses of IndiGo's aircraft. Indigo's official website goindiGo.in is written on the engines, which have an indigo background. Finally, the tail is mostly indigo again, with the carrier's name written at the top in Indigo, a sky blue stripe in the middle, on a white background.

Awards and achievements

IndiGo has won the following awards:

  • Best LCC by the Airline Passengers Association of India (2007).[31]
  • Best LCC at the Galileo Express Travel Awards (2008).[31]
  • CNBC Awaaz's Travel Award for best low cost airline(2009).[31]
  • Skytrax Awards - Best low cost carrier (2010, 11, 12).[32]

References

  1. ^ "IndiGo Contact Details." IndiGo. Retrieved on 6 March 2009.
  2. ^ IndiGo largest LCC
  3. ^ IndiGo most profitable Indian airline
  4. ^ IndiGo profit
  5. ^ a b "IndiGo flies past Jet to become largest airline". Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  6. ^ "IndiGo gets first fuel-efficient Airbus 320 with Sharklet wing-tip". The Economic Times. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  7. ^ IndiGo FAQ's
  8. ^ IndiGo Plus
  9. ^ IndiGo Corporate Program
  10. ^ "IndiGo among the fastest expanding airlines globally". Business Standard. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  11. ^ Surprise! Nearly half of IndiGo foreign-owned. Hindustan Times (2012-03-11). Retrieved on 2012-04-13.
  12. ^ "IndiGo Airlines to fly soon". Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  13. ^ "IndiGo pips AI to become No. 3 airline". The Indian Express Limited. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  14. ^ "Biggest order: IndiGo airline picks up 180 jets". Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  15. ^ "IndiGo, SpiceJet airlines violate mandatory safety norms: DGCA : West, News - India Today". Indiatoday.intoday.in. 2012-01-09. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  16. ^ http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/hub-and-spoke-model-harnessed-by-indigo-airlines-to-offer-cheap-flights
  17. ^ "IndiGo to operate international flights from August". The Economic Times. New Delhi. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  18. ^ Firdaus Hashim (2 September 2011). "IndiGo launches its first international flight". Flightglobal. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  19. ^ "IndiGo to launch international services on 1 September". Flightglobal.com. 22 August 2011. Archived from the original on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  20. ^ "Private carriers free to fly into Air India territory". Rediff.com. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  21. ^ "Fleet age Indigo | Airfleets aviation". Airfleets.net. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  22. ^ "IndiGo – Affordable Low Cost Airlines, Online Flight Ticket Bookings India, Discount Airfares, Domestic Airline Tickets India, Cheap Air Tickets India". Book.goindigo.in. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
  23. ^ TNN, Apr 29, 2010, 06.14am IST (2010-04-29). "IndiGo seeks to buy 150 planes". Times of India. Retrieved 2010-08-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Airbus Press Release – IndiGo celebrates delivery of first Airbus A320 28 July 2006
  25. ^ "VT-IFH IndiGo Airbus A320-232(WL) - cn 5437". PlaneSpotters. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  26. ^ Sinha, Saurabh (13 January 2011). "Aircraft order is just a drop in ocean: IndiGo". Times of India. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
  27. ^ "Airbus wins $6bn order from India". BBC News. 2005-06-16. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
  28. ^ "Airbus Orders and Deliveries". Airbus.com. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
  29. ^ "IndiGo commits to 180 A320s, largest jet order in aviation history" (Press release). Airbus. 1/11/11. Retrieved 14 January 2011. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Cached webpage
  30. ^ "Airbus and AirAsia announce record deal for 200 planes". BBC. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  31. ^ a b c "IndiGo makes it three in a row with CNBC AWAAZ Travel Award '09". domain-b.com. 2009-09-01. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  32. ^ "It's Celebration time yet again! IndiGo scores a Hatrick at the prestigious SKYTRAX World Airline Awards 2012". IndiGo. Retrieved 25 January 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to IndiGo.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IndiGo&oldid=536215524"