IndiGo, the Indian low-cost carrier that agreed to a record plane order, may begin overseas flights in August as economic growth stokes travel in the world’s second-most populous nation. The carrier eventually plans to fly to the Middle East, Southeast Asia and other South Asianations, President Aditya Ghosh said in a phone interview today. The New Delhi-based carrier is unable to start international flights before August because of government regulations.
VT-INA - IndiGo - Airbus A320-232: image PlanespottersNet_026313.jpg
IndiGo may consider sale-and-leaseback deals and debt issuances to help pay for the 180 Airbus SAS A320 planes it has signed a preliminary agreement for, Ghosh said. The aircraft, worth about $15 billion at list prices, will boost the carrier’s fleet as it competes with Air India and Jet Airways India Ltd. in Asia’s second fastest-growing major economy.
The new order, which was announced yesterday, builds on the 100 A320s that IndiGo signed up for in 2005, the year before it began services. The carrier was operating 32 planes at the end of November, according to data on Airbus’ website. The other planes in the initial order for 100 are due to be delivered by 2015, Ghosh said. The airline is a unit of closely held InterGlobe Enterprises Ltd., which also runs hotels and offers technology services…..
Deliveries of the next 180 single-aisle planes will run from 2016 to 2025, Ghosh said. These planes will include 150 of Airbus’s revamped A320, which will be fitted with new engines. The carrier is the first customer for this new version.
Indian carriers are buying aircraft and adding overseas routes as rising wages and trade stoke leisure and business travel. Domestic passenger numbers will likely surge fourfold to 180 million a year by 2020, according to a government forecast…..
Airlines in India have to fly domestically for at least five years before they can start overseas services, under government rules.
Tags: Airbus, Airbus A320, IndiGo, IndiGo overseas, Low-cost carrier
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