Middle East destinations key to Indigo’s international expansion plans

Muscat: As Indigo, India’s largest airline, placed a firm order for 500 A320 family aircraft, setting the record for the biggest single purchase agreement in the history of commercial aviation, its CEO recently spoke to the Observer on the airline’s plans for the Middle East.

The airline currently operates to three destinations from Muscat – Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai as some routes were stopped during the pandemic.

Pieter Elbers, CEO, said, “In the first part of our international expansion and what we are doing now, were expanding from different cities in India to different parts in the Middle East. We have announced new flights from Ahmedabad to Jeddah and from Hyderabad to Ras al Khaima though Oman.”

He added, “In the in the Middle East, our network strategy really has two dimensions, one dimension is adding new destinations and all these flights could be operated with our A321 fleet. I think today we're happy with the product we have and no plans to introduce business class cabins.”

On the closure of some routes, he said, “We try to optimize our schedules and some routes were stopped due to this reason. Also, as bilateral agreements are based on seat numbers, if we add a bigger aircraft on one route, another route has to be stopped. We are constantly optimizing our network and making sure we meet the demands in various areas.”

The airline seeks to expand its network into Europe and further into Asia with A321XLR, which we may not need for Oman due to the short distance.”

On the new order, Elbers said, “It is difficult to overstate the significance of new order for 500 Airbus A320 Family aircraft. An order book now of almost 1000 aircraft well into the next decade, enables IndiGo to fulfil its mission to continue to boost economic growth, social cohesion and mobility in India.”