INDIGO IS SERIOUS ABOUT GROWING CARGO BUSINESS: CCO

IndiGo's first A321ceo freighter plane is scheduled to arrive as scheduled during the first half of 2022 and it will show everyone that the airline is serious about growing its cargo business, the carrier's chief commercial officer (CCO) William Boulter has said.

On April 21, IndiGo had announced it was in the process of leasing four A321ceo freighter aircraft, each having the capacity to handle 27 tonnes of cargo.

The CCO told PTI in an interview last week that IndiGo was not considering starting its own frequent flyer programme right now and is focusing completely on co-branded arrangements with banks.

On the question if IndiGo is considering starting its own frequent flyer programme, he replied in negative.

Boulter added, "At the moment, our focus is very much on the co-branded (credit card) arrangements that we have come to with the banks. We believe that these (cards) deliver customers with a lot of benefits."

Talking about the airline's cargo business, the CCO said, "Our cargo business has been one of the successes during the pandemic. Actually, we have operated close to 8,000 cargo-in-cabin charter flights."

Domestically, the carrier was currently operating to 71 cities in India and each of those points has a cargo capability, he noted.

When asked if the airline plans to expand the size of its order for cargo planes, he replied," We have ordered four aircraft. We will see how the business develops. We will take further decisions later."

Boulter said he sees huge potential for cargo flights operating between India and China.

"We opened services to China before the pandemic—to Chengdu and Guangzhou. They were very successful in a very short time," he said.—