Airline News
IndiGo cuts $2.6 billion finance deal with ICBC
September 23rd 2014
Indian low-cost carrier (LCC) IndiGo has signed a $2.6 billion deal with China’s Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC) for the financing of more than 30 new Airbus A320, the Gurgaon-based carrier said. Read More »
IndiGo is India’s largest carrier with a market share of 32% and the only airline on the subcontinent that has been continuously profitable since its 2006 launch.
In 2011, IndiGo ordered 180 Airbus A320 jets worth $15.6bn – the then second largest single order in the commercial aviation industry. Aditya Ghosh, the airline’s president, says that while some of these planes will be used to fly to the Gulf and parts of south and south-east Asia, the majority will sustain the carrier’s domestic growth ambitions.
The majority of IndiGo’s fleet is financed through sale and leaseback agreements and is one factor, analysts say, which has helped keep the carrier profitable in India’s infamously difficult aviation market.
When asked about his airline’s success Ghosh has repeatedly spoken about “sticking to the basics.”
“We don’t try to do anything fancy, we don’t try to bend the wind, we just stick to our business model,” the 36-year-old said.
IndiGo had a total fleet of 80 Airbus A320 as this issue went to press.
