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IndiGo

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For other uses, see Indigo and Indigo (disambiguation).

IndiGo
File:IndiGo Logo.jpg
IATA ICAO Callsign
6E IGO IFLY
Founded2006
Commenced operations4 August 2006
Hubs
Secondary hubs
Focus cities
Fleet size77
Destinations36
Parent companyInterGlobe Enterprises
HeadquartersGurgaon, Haryana, India
Key peopleRahul Bhatia, MD
Aditya Ghosh, president
RevenueIncrease ₹94.5 billion (US$1.1 billion) (2013)[1]
Operating incomeIncrease ₹9.93 billion (US$120 million) (2013)[1]
Net incomeIncrease ₹7.87 billion (US$94 million) (2013)[1]
Websitewww.goindigo.in

IndiGo is an Indian airline company headquartered at Gurgaon, India. It is a low cost carrier and the largest airline in India[citation needed] with a market share of 30.3% as of September 2013. IndiGo is one of the fastest growing low cost carriers in the world. With its fleet of 77 new Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline offers 459 daily flights connecting to 36 destinations.

History

IndiGo was set up in early 2006 by Rahul Bhatia of InterGlobe Enterprises and Rakesh S Gangwal, a United States-based NRI. InterGlobe holds 51.12% stake in IndiGo and 48% is held by Gangwal's Virginia-based company Caelum Investments.[2] IndiGo placed a firm order for 100 Airbus A320-200 aircraft in June 2005 with plans to commence operations in mid-2006.[3] 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. By December 2010, IndiGo replaced the state run flag carrier Air India as the top third airline in India. It already had 17.3% of the market share, behind Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways.[4] By early 2012, IndiGo had taken the delivery of its 50th aircraft in less than six 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%.[5]

By 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 a low-cost model, buying only one type of aircraft and keeping operational costs as low as possible along with an emphasis on punctuality are said to be some of the reasons for its success even when the airline industry in India was going through a bad patch. IndiGo focuses on adding a new plane every six weeks and sometimes even faster. However, this rapid expansion led to a scathing report by the DGCA in December 2011, which highlighted problems resulting from this expansion in the airline that could impact safety.[6] On 17 August 2012, IndiGo became the largest airline in India in terms of market share (27%),[7] which is more than one-fourth of total market share of all the Indian airlines combined, in the process dethroning the full-service carrier Jet Airways, which had held that position for many years. The airline had reached the position just six years after operations commenced.[7]

In January 2013, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation announced that, following Indonesian airline Lion Air, IndiGo was the second fastest growing low-cost carrier in the continent.[8] In the same month, 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.[9] In February 2013, following the civil aviation ministry announcing that they would be allowing IndiGo to take the delivery of only five aircraft that year, reports suggested that the airline was in plans to introduce low-cost regional flights by setting up a subsidiary. However, Aditya Ghosh, IndiGo's president said that all such reports were untrue and IndiGo was actually in plans to seek permission from the ministry to acquire four more aircraft, therefore taking the delivery of nine aircraft in 2013.[10] In August 2013, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation ranked IndiGo amongst the 10 biggest low-cost carriers in the world.

Destinations

Main article: IndiGo destinations

IndiGo operates to 36 destinations in India and abroad with 459 daily flights.[11] In January 2011 IndiGo received a license to operate international flights after completing five years of operations.[12] IndiGo's first international service was launched between New Delhi and Dubai on 1 September 2011.[13] Over the following weeks, the international services were expanded to serve Bangkok, Singapore, Muscat and Kathmandu from New Delhi and Mumbai.[14]

IndiGo ramp

An IndiGo boarding ramp for better wheelchair accessibility.

IndiGo's speciality is a boarding ramp that allows people riding in a wheelchair to get into the plane comfortably. This is a rare feature worldwide.

Fleet

An IndiGo A320 at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi loading before take off to Coimbatore
The interior of an IndiGo A320

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 4 February 2014, IndiGo operates 76 such aircraft and the average fleet age is 2.5 years.[15] IndiGo has operated a total of 93 Airbus A320-200 aircraft.

IndiGo Fleet[16]
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers
(economy) 		Notes
Airbus A320-200 77 7 180 16 aircraft phased out
Airbus A320neo — 160[17] 180 Deliveries starting 2016
Airbus A321neo — 20[18] 236 Deliveries starting 2017
Total 77 187  

Fleet info

IndiGo aimed to have a fleet size of 40 aircraft by 2010, and induct all the 100 aircraft it had ordered by 2015–2016.[19] In February 2012, IndiGo took the delivery of its 50th aircraft. On 15 January 2013, the first IndiGo A320-200 was rolled out with sharklets. The aeroplane, registered VT-IFH, is IndiGo's 62nd aircraft and it was delivered less than two weeks later.[20] The Airbus A320neo family aircraft will be delivered between 2016 and 2025.[21]

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.[22][23] 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.[24][25]

Retirement

To keep the average fleet age low, IndiGo usually phases out aircraft older than 6 years. Of the 93 aircraft IndiGo has taken, it has already returned 16 to the leasing companies.

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. On the belly of the aircraft are 20 spots depicted as a plane representing the airline's logo.

Services

IndiGo A320 flight cockpit
Interior of an IndiGo A320 flight

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 does not provide complimentary meals in any of its flights, though it does have a buy-on board in-flight meal programme.[26] No in-flight entertainment is available, but the airline provides an in-flight catalogue Hello 6E which gives information about various duty-free products which can be bought on board.

IndiGo offers premium services, where the passengers, at a higher fare, can avail additional benefits like a pre-assigned seat and meals on board.[27] It also offers a service called IndiGo Corporate Programme for corporate travellers.[28]

Accidents and incidents

  • On 11 January 2011, Flight 333, piloted by Captain Parminder Kaur Gulati, landed nose-first at Goa International Airport, damaging the landing gear and putting the aircraft at risk of disintegration. Prior to the landing, the captain had caused the aircraft to descend too steeply, against the recommendations of aircraft manufacturer Airbus.[29] It was later discovered that the captain used forged papers to obtain an air transport pilot license (ATPL), after failing the test as many as seven times. She had also flown the return flight back to New Delhi when the aircraft's systems indicated a problem with the landing gear, which sparked the investigations.[30]
  • On 8 March 2014 , Flight 6E 031, flight from Delhi to Kathmandu were evacuated after smoke and fire was detected from the undercarriage of the aircraft minutes after it landed at the Tribhuwan International Airport.The plane was carrying 175 passengers, 1 infant and 6 crew members. It made a normal landing and was parked in a bay when a ground engineer saw smoke and fire emanating from the right brake assembly,Passengers were evacuated by the slide-chute, even as the fire was brought under control. [31][32]

Awards and achievements

IndiGo has won the following awards:

  • Best LCC (low-cost carrier) by the Airline Passengers Association of India (2007).[33]
  • Best LCC at the Galileo Express Travel Awards (2008).[33]
  • CNBC Awaaz's Travel Award for best low cost airline(2009).[33]
  • Skytrax Awards – Best low cost carrier (2010, 11, 12,13).[34]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Indigo FY13 profit rises to Rs 993 crore". The Hindu. 24 September 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  2. ^ Surprise! Nearly half of IndiGo foreign-owned. Hindustan Times (11 March 2012). Retrieved on 2012-04-13.
  3. ^ "IndiGo Airlines to fly soon". Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  4. ^ "IndiGo pips AI to become No. 3 airline". The Indian Express Limited. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  5. ^ "Biggest order: IndiGo airline picks up 180 jets". Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  6. ^ "IndiGo, SpiceJet airlines violate mandatory safety norms: DGCA : West, News – India Today". Indiatoday.intoday.in. 9 January 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  7. ^ a b "IndiGo flies past Jet to become largest airline". Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  8. ^ "IndiGo among the fastest expanding airlines globally". Business Standard. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  9. ^ "IndiGo gets first fuel-efficient Airbus 320 with Sharklet wing-tip". The Economic Times. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  10. ^ "IndiGo to set up regional airline to tap small towns". The Economic Times (ET). Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  11. ^ "IndiGo launches 8 new flights; increases flights between metros". Firstpost Business. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  12. ^ "IndiGo to operate international flights from August". The Economic Times. New Delhi. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  13. ^ Firdaus Hashim (2 September 2011). "IndiGo launches its first international flight". Flightglobal. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ "Fleet age Indigo | Airfleets aviation". Airfleets.net. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  16. ^ "IndiGo – Affordable Low Cost Airlines, Online Flight Ticket Bookings India, Discount Airfares, Domestic Airline Tickets India, Cheap Air Tickets India". Book.goindigo.in. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  17. ^ "AIRBUS A320 neo FAMILY FIRM ORDERS". Airbus.com. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  18. ^ Airbus Press Release – IndiGo firms up order for 150 A320neo and 30 A320s 22 June 2011
  19. ^ Airbus Press Release – IndiGo celebrates delivery of first Airbus A320 28 July 2006
  20. ^ "VT-IFH IndiGo Airbus A320-232(WL) – cn 5437". PlaneSpotters. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  21. ^ Sinha, Saurabh (13 January 2011). "Aircraft order is just a drop in ocean: IndiGo". Times of India. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
  22. ^ "Airbus wins $6bn order from India". BBC News. 16 June 2005. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  23. ^ "Airbus Orders and Deliveries". Airbus.com. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  24. ^ "IndiGo commits to 180 A320s, largest jet order in aviation history" (Press release). Airbus. 1/11/11. Archived from the original on 2011-01-15. Retrieved 14 January 2011. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Cached webpage
  25. ^ "Airbus and AirAsia announce record deal for 200 planes". BBC. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  26. ^ "IndiGo FAQ's". Book.goindigo.in. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  27. ^ "IndiGo Plus". Book.goindigo.in. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  28. ^ "IndiGo Corporate Program". Book.goindigo.in. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  29. ^ "DGCA finds fault with IndiGo pilot's landing technique". India Today. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  30. ^ "Woman pilot faked papers for licence after failing test 7 times". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  31. ^ http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/indigo-plane-catches-fire-after-landing-in-kathmandu-no-one-hurt-114030800304_1.html
  32. ^ http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/indigo-plane-from-delhi-catches-fire-at-kathmandu-airport-no-casualties-493119
  33. ^ a b c "IndiGo makes it three in a row with CNBC AWAAZ Travel Award '09". domain-b.com. 1 September 2009. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  34. ^ "Indigo wins SKYTRAX awards". Business Standard. 21 July 2012.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to IndiGo.
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