Private budget carrier, IndiGo, is all set to launch its international operations from September 1, connecting Delhi and Mumbai with Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore.
The low-cost, no-frill carrier will add international destinations to its schedule in a phased manner spread over a month till October 2. While Delhi-Dubai flight will be launched on September 1, Delhi-Bangkok flight will take off on September 8 and Delhi-Singapore flight will start from September 15. Mumbai will be connected to Bangkok and Dubai from October 2.
"We are launching our international operations to Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok from this September. Keeping the stiff competition in mind, the all-inclusive return fare for any of the destinations in the three sectors would be Rs 9,999 only," IndiGo’s President Aditya Ghosh announced here on Tuesday.
The airline is offering 25,000 seats on this inaugural fare, he said.
The low-cost carrier has also applied for flights to Dhaka and Bangkok from Kolkata, which is likely to begin next year, he said. "We are also exploring options of operating more flights on international sectors as 34 per cent of the route authority from Indian side are yet to be utilised," Mr. Ghosh said.
The country's second largest airline, which at present has a fleet of 39 aircraft, operates about 250 daily flights on 26 domestic sectors. It has cornered a market share of nearly 19 per cent, becoming the second largest airline in the country.
IndiGo marked its journey into the Indian skies in August 2006 and had surprised the civil aviation circles by placing orders for 100 Airbus A-320 aircraft and all of them will be delivered by 2015.
Again, the carrier placed an order, the biggest in the global history of civil aviation, with European consortium Airbus Industrie for another 180 A-320 new generation aircraft.
Mr. Ghosh said that all international flights from Delhi would be operated from Terminal 1D and 1C, making it more convenient for the travellers. On the domestic sector, he said the carrier was looking at strengthening its presence in Southern cities, particularly Trivandrum and Kochi.
