Fresh from expanding its overseas presence with flights to China and Myanmar, IndiGo, India’s largest airline run by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, is preparing to connect more destinations such as London and Vietnam. The budget airline will seek to woo passengers by offering attractive fares, coupled with a strong marketing strategy, IndiGo’s chief commercial officer (CCO) William Boulter said in an interview. Edited excerpts:
How optimistic are you about Myanmar?
Well, Myanmar is a destination for us (where) we think the IndiGo model is best applied. Although the numbers that we looked up before starting operation to Yangon were not, especially, encouraging, the stimulation effect of low-cost carriers can be substantial and typically, one can stimulate the market by 100% pretty quickly, provided you get the right fares and the right marketing strategy. So, Myanmar for us is a little bit on the edge, but we are confident we can stimulate the market.
What’s the update on your plane deliveries?
We have an order of 430 new A320 family aircraft and we continue to take deliveries against that. We are now at about 90 A320-321neos—that have come in—and we continue to take deliveries against that order. We also have an order of 50 ATRs, 20 (of these) have been delivered so far.
IndiGo has applied for permits to fly to London. Will the airline be flying wide-body on this route?
For us, wide-body aircraft is an aspiration, but they are not a firm plan at the moment. It is something we are reviewing. I think our CEO mentioned earlier that we are reviewing wide-body aircraft (options) but we don’t have a firm plan right now.
