India’s largest airline, IndiGo, is planning to buy up to 100 small planes and is holding discussions with aircraft makers on the matter. The fleet expansion is expected to strengthen its hold on the regional routes, a source revealed.
ATR and Embraer are amongst the aircraft makers that the airline has been holding discussions with. Although a final decision has not been made, the general strategy is to pursue a firm order of 50 planes with the option to acquire an additional 50 of the same aircraft, the source further said.
IndiGo’s fleet
The airline recently placed an order for 30 wide-body A350 planes. This will push its domestic and international operations.
As of now, it has 45 ATRs in its fleet, having 78 seats each.
Earlier in April, IndiGo announced its order for 30 A350-900 aircraft. It also has the option to buy another 70 such aircraft.
In June of last year, IndiGo secured the largest single aircraft order in aviation history, purchasing 500 planes from Airbus. The current outstanding order book for the A320 family totals nearly 1,000 aircraft, scheduled for delivery well into the next decade. This includes a variety of models such as the A320 neo, A321 neo, and A321 XLR. IndiGo currently operates a fleet of 355 aircraft, including 45 ATRs, 193 A320 neos, 20 A320 ceos, 94 A321s, and 3 A321 freighters. CEO Pieter Elbers expressed the company’s ambitious goal to double its size by 2030 during an announcement in April.
(With PTI inputs)