By both numbers of passengers carried and fleet size, IndiGo is India’s largest airline. First commencing operations on August 4th, 2006, the low-cost carrier grew steadily ever since, becoming one of the most preferred airlines in the region, connecting upwards of 75 Indian cities and 25 international destinations.
Consistent growth and success
India is a vast and diverse nation. With a land area of approximately 3 million km² (1.15 million mi²) and a bustling population of over 1.4 billion, hassle-free and affordable travel is essential. IndiGo did not waste time trying to make this happen; after taking delivery of its first Airbus A320-200 on July 28th, it began flying the following week. This was just the first of 100 aircraft from a firm order the year prior, and the young carrier’s fleet continued to grow.
Less than four years after starting operations, IndiGo became one of the largest Indian airlines by market share, overtaking Air India’s place just behind two previous major carriers, Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways. 2012 marked the year it took delivery of its 50th airliner, became the most profitable carrier in the country, and jumped up to second place in the Indian aviation market.
It has only continuously grown from this position, with the Times of India calling IndiGo “India’s only consistently profitable airline,” also placing multiple record-breaking orders over the years. In December 2019, the carrier became the first Indian carrier to operate over 1,500 daily flights and maintain a fleet size of over 250 aircraft.
Fleet
As mentioned above, IndiGo’s first order was placed at the 2005 Paris Air Show for 100 Airbus A320-200s. Full delivery was completed ahead of schedule, by the end of 2014, though it had already placed another order for 180 A320neos a couple of years prior. Then, in 2015, the carrier placed the largest single order at the time for 250 more A320neo family aircraft. According to One Mile At A Time, these 430 A320neos comprised 280 Airbus A320s and 150 A321s.
But that wouldn’t be all. In October 2019, IndiGo placed yet another order with Airbus for an astonishing 300 A320neo family aircraft on top of what they already were on track to receive, comprising a mix of A320neos, A321neos, and A321XLRs. And as many readers know, just a couple of months ago, they broke the record yet again, ordering 500 A320neo family aircraft, pushing their historical orders for the one family of airliners to well over 1,000.
According to ch-aviation at the time of writing, the prominent Indian airline utilizes 22 Airbus A230-200, 169 A230-200N, 89 A321-200NX, 40 ATR72-600, and 2 wet-leased Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Yet to be delivered are 295 A320-200N, 1 A321-200, 375 A321-200N, 232 A321-200NX, 69 A321-200NY(XLR), and 10 ATR72-600 airliners.
Route Network
IndiGo is headquartered in Gurgaon (Gurugram), close to the border of Haryana and Delhi, with primary hubs at key airports in Bangalore (Bengaluru), Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi (Cochin), Kolkata (Calcutta), and Mumbai (Bombay).
In total, according to its website, the airline serves 104 destinations, split between 78 domestic cities and 26 (soon to be 32) abroad. This means IndiGo offers the most extensive domestic route network of any Indian airline, on top of providing services to Turkey, various Middle Eastern countries, as well as other South and Southeast Asian nations. Surely, IndiGo will be an exciting carrier to watch in the coming years and decades.
Have you ever flown with IndiGo? How was your experience? Let us know in the comments below.
Sources: IndiGo, Times of India, One Mile At A Time, ch-aviation