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29 March 2024

Indian carrier IndiGo to test Gulf skies

Aditya Ghosh, President of IndiGo, is all smiles with the prospects of his airline going international. (SUPPLIED)

Published
By Sachin Dave

Indian budget airline, IndiGo, is mulling over a foray into the Gulf, say aviation industry insiders. The carrier is expected to commence international operations post-August 2011, after it completes five years of domestic operations.

IndiGo, which commands the country's largest market share for a low-cost airline at 14.9 per cent, has approached the country's civil aviation ministry for an approval this month, according to a Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official, who spoke to Emirates Business on the condition of anonymity.

He said: "IndiGo is looking to fly into Dubai and Doha in the Gulf. Also on the agenda are traffic rights for Singapore, Saarc countries and China.

"Guidelines set by the government state that a domestic Indian airline will be eligible to start international operations only after it has completed five years of domestic operations and has a fleet of at least 20 aircraft."

The DGCA official also stated that IndiGo President Aditya Ghosh has written a letter to the Indian Civil Aviation Ministry seeking permission to extend its operations to international routes. In turn, the ministry has requested DGCA, the Indian regulator for aviation, to conduct a check on IndiGo's capabilities.

After repeated attempts, IndiGo officials were not available for comment.

Currently, Air India, Air India Express, Indian, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines are the Indian carriers that hold international traffic rights.

While IndiGo aims to be the country's first no-frills airline to fly international, sources say full-fare carrier Jet Airways is also keen to launch its budget arm – JetLite – to the Gulf region.

However, when contacted, Shakir Kantawala, General Manager, Dubai and Northern Emirates, Jet Airways said, the company does not have any "immediate plans for JetLite" in the region.

Other Indian operators, such as the business-class carrier Paramount Airways and SpiceJet, however, are quite open about their plans.

Speaking to this paper earlier, M Thiagarajan, CEO, Paramount Airways, said: "We will commence operations to the Gulf in the last quarter of 2010. We will start with the Middle East, particularly Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Sharjah."

Meanwhile, SpiceJet – which was recently in the news after Istithmar, the Dubai World's investment arm, sold most of its 13.39 per cent equity stake in the airline – has not revealed any official timeline for its international operations.

Industry analysts point out that by the end of 2012, at least eight Indian airline companies would have its Gulf operations in place.

"There is enough room for everyone, whether it is a budget airline or a luxury airline," said Kantawala, adding: "We are competitively priced and do not see that our operations will be affected in anyway by this."

IndiGo arrived on the scene in 2005, when planemaker Airbus confirmed the carrier had placed an order for 100 A320 aircraft at the Paris Air Show. The total order was rumoured to be worth $6 billion (Dh22bn) – one of the highest by any Indian domestic carrier – which were set to be delivered by 2016.

Airbus recently delivered the Haryana-based carrier's 25th aircraft, with IndiGo setting a target of serving approximately 30 Indian cities by 2010, with a fleet size of 40. Analysts say the Indian aviation sector would require $120bn for aircraft acquisition and building aviation infrastructure to meet growing traffic. The airport sector would require a total of $20bn in addition to the $10bn already committed in past five years, stated a white paper on aviation industry.