Six more cities connected
Indigo has recently launched seven new flights connecting six destinations in the domestic sector, and placed orders for 28 A-320 aircraft worth more than $15 billion with Airbus.
Recently, IndiGo launched seven new flights on its domestic network. It will now operate a new daily direct flight between Mumbai and Jammu, a new direct flight between Chennai and Kochi, a second daily flight between Mumbai and Srinagar, a second non-stop flight between Chennai and Trivandrum. Besides these, it will also start a second nonstop flight between Mumbai and Trivandrum, a second daily non-stop flight between Jammu and Srinagar and third direct flight between Mumbai and Kochi. Also, from June 15, IndiGo will connect Mumbai and Muscat with daily and direct flights. These new services will further consolidate IndiGo with 422 flights connecting 33 destinations across the nation.
In a recent interview to CNN, IndiGo President Aditya Ghosh said he is content with expanding the network in a phased manner. “They (other airlines) fly double the number of planes than we have, but we focus on business,” said Ghosh.
The carrier’s ASKMs, a measure of capacity in the airline industry, grew 25% year-on-year during JanuaryMarch 2013 to 5.5 million, even as industry-wide ASKMs declined 4% to 18.83 million. IndiGo’s increasing capacity has been further aided by its high seat factor. In April, the airline had seat factors of 83.8% and during the first three months of the year, it averaged 82.7%. The
Delhi-based budget carrier has been recently granted permission by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, to import 28 A-320 aircraft in 2013 and 2014. According to the company statement, “The additional aircraft will enable IndiGo to take its low-fare and hassle-free service to more customers and enable stronger connectivity within India and abroad.”