In what may give passengers more options and a better deal while travelling to tier II and tier III cities, IndiGo will begin services on the Chennai- Mangaluru and Hyderabad-Mangaluru sectors on December 21 with aircraft from Avions De Transport Regional (ATR).
With a view to venturing into regional connectivity, IndiGo signed an agreement with ATR for 50 aircraft and took the delivery of its first ATR 72-600 in Toulouse, France, on Friday. This aircraft landed in Delhi on Monday. Of the 50, 21 will be delivered by early 2019, Tom Anderson, senior vice-president, programs and customer service, said. Guillaume Huertas, head of sales-South Asia of ATR, said the ATR 72-600 aircraft, with a capacity of 50 seats, have modern cabin interiors and consume 40% less fuel than jets. “Also, all ATR models are well below ICAO noise certification limits,” he added.
The airline plans to cover many tier II and tier III cities through its services which include, Chennai- Rajmundhry, Hyderabad- Rajamundry, Bengaluru-Tirupati and Hyderabad-Tirupati.
Aditya Ghosh, president of IndiGo, said, “This will bring in competitive pricing in the market and passengers will greatly benefit. For instance, the initial pricing on these routes will be ₹1,499.”
Regional connectivity
The expansion plan has come in the backdrop of the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) of the Centre. “It is mere coincidence that we have acquired new ATR aircraft and are beginning regional connectivity at a time of RCS. This regional expansion plan of ours was not meant to align with RCS,” Mr. Ghosh added.
IndiGo, which did not participate in the first round of RCS bidding, has bid for the second round. Sources say this means that apart from the above routes, IndiGo will put to use the additional ATR aircraft for the RCS scheme as well when the second round process gets over and operations begin.
(The writer was in Toulouse, France, on the invitation of IndiGo and ATR for the handing over ceremony)
