 "IndiGo widens global footprint with 6 new destinations, to add 174 flights")
IndiGo will add 174 weekly flights in the summer schedule with the launch of six new overseas destinations and resumption of service to Hong Kong.
New destinations announced by IndiGo on Friday include Almaty (Kazakhstan), Baku (Azerbaijan), Jakarta (Indonesia), Nairobi (Kenya), Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and Tbilisi (Georgia). There are no non-stop flights from India to Georgia and Indonesia at present, while other destinations are served by direct or via options.
IndiGo's network expansion comes amid a surge in international travel. It also comes in the backdrop of civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia's call to Indian carriers to expand overseas.
Nearly two-thirds of India's international passenger traffic is carried by foreign airlines. The share of Indian carriers however is rising and they carried over 43 per cent international traffic in January-March 2023 compared to over 39 per cent in October-December quarter of 2019 (passenger flights were impacted and eventually suspended due to Covid-19 in March 2020).
"The addition of these exciting new destinations, new direct flight routes, enhanced flight frequencies, and strategic codeshare partnerships, will help us expand our footprint across four continents with Africa and Central Asia being penetrated for the first time. With this expansion in our network, we will now be directly touching 32 international destinations (up from 26), next to our 78 domestic destinations, " IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said in a statement.
While Jakarta and Nairobi will be connected to Mumbai late July/early August, the Central Asian destinations will be linked to Delhi in August and September.
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IndiGo will also be resuming operations daily from Delhi to Hong Kong in August. This flight was suspended with the onset of Covid-19 and will now be reinstated. New flights are also being added to Bahrain, Dammam and Ras Al Khaimah while frequency between Mumbai and Dhaka will be increased.
At an industry event last month Scindia had asked airlines to focus on international routes given thin margins and intense competition on domestic routes. While fuel for foreign flights doesn't attract state taxes, airlines also benefit from earning revenue in a foreign currency.
The minister is also pushing airlines to induct wide body planes which will enable them to fly on long haul routes. This is part of government's overall plan to develop an aviation hub in India.
IndiGo is developing flight connections that would allow passengers from smaller airports within the country to fly overseas via Delhi.
"We see a strong performance on the international network precisely for us staying very truthful to the very core of our customer promise. At IndiGo itself, we have now built up a lot more connections," Elbers said in a post-result conference call last month.
At present IndiGo operates 1300 weekly international flights.
At present IndiGo operates 1300 weekly international flights.