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IndiGo receives maiden ATR
November 24th 2017
IndiGo Airlines has taken delivery of its first of 50 on-order ATR72-600s, following a ferry flight from Toulouse to Delhi. Read More »
IndiGo will be performing crew familiarization flights with the turboprop before commencing revenue flights on December 21 on existing routes between Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mangalore, Madurai and Nagpur and new services between Bengaluru/Hyderabad-Tirupati, as well as Bengaluru/Hyderabad-Rajahmundry.
The introduction of the new ATR fleet goes in line with the Indian government’s Regional Connectivity Scheme, which aims to boost economic development, employment and tourism by connecting small and remote cities. Under this scheme 100 new airports are expected to be built in the next three years.
India’s rapidly expanding domestic market represented close to 100 million passengers in 2016 and has been growing by more than 20% annually. It is forecast to become the world’s third largest market by 2020.
“By taking delivery of this first ATR 72-600, we are now one step closer to the launch of our turboprop operations by the end of this year. We are excited at the opportunity of once again being able to redefine air travel in India by bringing the reliability and efficiency of IndiGo’s operations to towns and regions in our country which so far have been devoid of reliable air service or have been subject to exorbitant air fares. My sincere thanks to the team at ATR. As we say at IndiGo, we are all set and TURBOCHARGED!” said IndiGo president, Aditya Ghosh.
IndiGo, a low-cost carrier, is India's largest airline with a market share of 38.2% as of September 2017. IndiGo’s philosophy is to “offer fares that are always low, flights that are on time, and a travel experience that is courteous and hassle-free”.
IndiGo, with a technical dispatch reliability of 99.85% (in the quarter ended June 30) has one of the best on-time performances in India. With its fleet of 143 A320 family aircraft, the airline operates more than 900 daily flights connecting 46 destinations.
“IndiGo is a much respected airline which pays particular attention to every single detail relating to quality. Today’s delivery to such a renowned airline underlines the quality and the suitability of the ATR -600 and shows why it is unrivalled in the regional market,” ATR CEO, Christian Scherer, said at the delivery.
Until now, IndiGo has been an all-Airbus operator, although there will hardly be any rivalry between Airbus and ATR, given Airbus Group’s 50% share in the turboprop maker. The Delhi-headquartered carrier has 141 A320s, including 24 A320neo, and is the largest operator of the re-engined single aisle aircraft. It has firm orders for 405 additional A320neo and 25 A321neo.
