 "IndiGo to introduce flights to 7 new global destinations by end of FY25")
India’s largest airline, IndiGo, is set to expand its international footprint with seven new destinations within the current financial year, according to CEO Pieter Elbers. This announcement came during an event in New Delhi celebrating the airline’s 18th anniversary of operations.
Presently, IndiGo operates over 2,000 flights daily, connecting around 120 destinations, including 33 international cities. Earlier this month, airline revealed plans to introduce flights to Jaffna, Sri Lanka, making it the airline’s second destination in the country after Colombo. Jaffna will also be IndiGo’s 34th international and 122nd overall destination. Bookings for this route began on August 1, 2024.
Elbers highlighted that the airline aims to further increase its international destinations to over 40 by the end of this financial year, which concludes on March 31, 2025. However, the CEO did not explicitly mention what new destinations will be added.
IndiGo makes up 61 per cent of domestic market
IndiGo dominates the domestic aviation market with a nearly 61 per cent share and has a substantial order of approximately 975 planes. As of the end of June, IndiGo’s fleet comprised 382 aircraft, including 18 on wet lease. The airline is poised to receive A321 XLR planes in 2025 and wide-body A350 aircraft in 2027, signalling significant growth and capacity enhancement.
IndiGo Q1FY25 results
Despite strong demand in air travel, IndiGo’s financial performance faced challenges in the first quarter of the ongoing financial year (Q1FY25). InterGlobe Aviation, the airline’s parent company, reported an 11.7 per cent drop in profit, amounting to Rs 2,727 crore ($326 million) for the quarter ending June 30. This decline from Rs 3,087 crore in the same period the previous year was attributed to higher operating expenses and foreign exchange losses.
Revenue from operations, however, saw a 17.3 per cent increase, reaching Rs 19,571 crore. The airline also reported a foreign exchange loss of Rs 575 million for Q1FY25, a significant shift from the Rs 116 crore gain in the previous year.
The airline forecasts a high single-digit percentage growth in capacity for the second quarter of the financial year. This optimism is underpinned by the airline’s ongoing expansion and robust demand for air travel, despite the projected 3.8 per cent increase in costs for Indian airlines in FY25, as indicated by a Reuters report.