IndiGo to go in for expansion

Bangalore, Oct 10 (UNI) India's latest low cost airliner IndiGo today said that it had no plans to indulge in fare gimmicks to woo passengers and will focus on keeping fares affordable without compromises.

IndiGo President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce Ashby talking to newsmen here said that the company plans to expand its fleet of A320s to 23 by the end of 2008 from six during the current calender year. With a fleet of 40 IndiGo aimed to touch 30 Indian cities by 2010, he added.

''We have no plans to offer tickets at Re one or Rs three but keep the average fare price at about Rs 3000'' he said.

The airliner had enhanced its route network in South India following delivery of its third brand new Airbus A320 aircraft in September. ''Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad are emerging business centres and important cities for IndiGo'' he said adding that Southern India was an attractive tourist destination.

He said there was plenty of demand for low fare air travel in India despite a lot of commentary on airport infrastructure and relatively little supply of low fare seats.

Stating that the Airliner was operating its current services with a capacity of over 78 per cent, he said delays and cancellations were minimal and delays could predominantly be attributed to ATCs.

He said in most of the airports in India the taxi time taken was high as compared to airports in other countries.

In Bangalore more than 15 minutes was lost in taxing the aircraft after its landing. Average time for taxing should be between five to 10 minutes so that there would be overcrowding of aircraft. As a remedy he said airports should have additional taxiways.

Replying to a question, Mr Ashby ruled out possibility of setting up Pilot Training Centre to overcome shortage of Pilots faced now.

To another question, he said that it takes at least 18 to 20 month to stabilise by running the flights on low cost basis.

UNI MSP VK KR KP142