 "A GoAir aircraft taxis on the tarmac at Bengaluru International Airport in Bangalore")
GoAir's order for an additional 72 Airbus A320neo planes signifies the airline's confidence in India's aviation growth and its intent to remain relevant, say sector experts.
GoAir had earlier signed for 72 of these aircraft; it has now doubled its order. All the planes will be delivered between now and 2025. Over the past 10 years, GoAir has followed a cautious approach of not chasing market share through rapid expansion or acquisition. In this time, it grew its fleet to 20 aircraft, inducting on an average two a year. The small size also ensured it did not burn cash the way some peers did and allowed it to remain profitable.
“Effectively, GoAir has a fleet strategy for the next 10 years. It signifies management confidence in India's aviation growth. In the face of existing and new competition, GoAir has to scale up and the order reflects the growth intent,” said Devesh Agarwal, editor of aviation blog Bangalore Aviation.
“GoAir has chosen profitability over market share and been successful so far. However, with IndiGo's declared fleet plans and SpiceJet's anticipated order, there is no option but to grow. Airbus has a strong order book for the A320neo aircraft. This is the right time for GoAir to lock in the asset prices for future growth,” said aviation consultant Anurag Jain.
Speaking to Business Standard on Tuesday, GoAir Chief Executive Officer Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said 72 A320neo had been ordered in 2011 and would be delivered till 2020.
The new order would take care of fleet requirements till 2025, he added.
“We are yet to select the engine option for the second batch of 72. We are confident about the A320neo and feel it is the right aircraft for us.”
Asked whether there would be orders for bigger aircraft, he said the airline had an option to switch to the larger variant of the A320neo, the A321neo, can seat up to 240 passengers and has a slightly longer range.
