Comments
A year into his role as CEO at IndiGo, Pieter Elbers has embarked on multi-pronged strategy aimed at establishing the airline as a global carrier including international expansion, fleet expansion, broadening its ancillary services portfolio, introducing a loyalty programme and growing its venture capital unit.
“India is moving to become the third largest economy in the world. The ambition clearly is to build up India as a global aviation powerhouse. The fact that there’s consolidation going on with IndiGo on the one hand and Air India group on the other hand means that India is moving forward. Last August, I shared a strategy for IndiGo centred around three pillars — reassure, develop and create. I am pleased with the progress made so far,” Elbers told businessline in an interview.
Elbers assumed the role of CEO at IndiGo in September last year, and the airline set ambitious goals to double its size by the end of the decade. Post Covid, IndiGo achieved several milestones, including regaining its leadership in on-time performance, achieving profitability for four consecutive quarters, expanding its domestic and international route network, and upgrading its IT infrastructure.
Elbers emphasised on the importance of the “create” pillar in their strategy for the year ahead. This includes plans to expand its venture capital arm and invest in the development of its leasing unit in Gift City. “Both the GIFT City arm and the venture capital firm are parts of building the foundations for what IndiGo wants to be in five years from now. If we want to double our capacity, we need to have more than just double the amount of aircraft. We need to have an ecosystem and infrastructure in place and we are actually building that,” he said
More destinations
Elbers highlighted that IndiGo is making steady progress on the operational front as well. The airline expanded its destination count from 100 to over 115, with plans to add three more, including Bali, Medina, and Ayodhya. It currently serves 85 domestic and 32 international destinations, with several new destinations added in the past year. Additionally, IndiGo has entered into codeshare agreements with eight international airlines, including British Airways, Qantas, and Turkish Airlines, expanding its global reach.
In the context of global aviation, the industry faces supply chain constraints, a challenge that IndiGo is addressing through various means. With an order book of 970 aircraft, the airline is adding an aircraft each week and plans to continue doing so. To mitigate supply chain constraints, they are also exploring wet leasing options.
Elbers said the airline acknowledges the importance of ancillary revenues and is considering enhancements in this area, although a precise timeline has yet to be set. Regarding the loyalty programme, they have laid the foundation with co-branded cards but are still developing the details of the program, with no specific launch date provided.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.