IndiGo will add flights to Bangkok, Dubai

The airline's international focus will mirror its domestic strategy -- maximising frequencies at existing destinations.

IndiGo will increase flight frequencies to Bangkok and Dubai but the airline will not add new foreign destinations for the time being, say sources.

With the relaxation in the earlier '5/20' set of restrictions, new airlines AirAsia India and Vistara are preparing plans to fly abroad but IndiGo's focus has largely been on being first in the domestic market. It operates a little over 800 daily flights but only about 30-odd are international ones. It is the largest domestic airline, with a 38.5 per cent market share, and also the most profitable among peers. Its international route map is limited to five destinations – Bangkok, Dubai, Kathmandu, Muscat and Singapore, and the number of  foreign destinations has remained flat since 2011-12.

The share of international revenue to the total is a little less than nine per cent.

IndiGo will launch a Chandigarh-Dubai flight and plans to resume a Delhi-Bangkok service later this year.  This could be the first international flight from Chandigarh, following a litigation in the state high court over lack of international flights from the Punjab capital. On Tuesday, IndiGo began a Kochi-Muscat flight.

An IndiGo spokesperson did not respond to an e-mail query on the topic.

In January, the airline had filed a schedule to launch a Delhi-Doha flight but later withdrewr.  IndiGo has followed a strategy of maximising frequencies at existing destinations, instead of opening up too many destinations within India. It is following the same strategy on international routes and so, the coming months could see the airline add more flights to its existing international destinations.

“The focus will not change,” said a source, familiar with the airline's plan. The other  important aspect will be  improved fleet utilisation and route profitability, the source added.

Unlike full service airlines, it does not have commercial partnerships with other operators (interline or codeshares) and is not a part of the International Air Transport Association's agency billing settlement plan or clearing house. So, it does not get traffic from other airlines, a limitation on its international operations.

IndiGo flies to 40 destinations, including the five foreign ones. Over recent months, it has been adding capacity on domestic routes and this financial year, will add 29 Airbus A320 planes.  It had cited an over 20 per cent growth in the domestic market while announcing its decision to induct planes earlier this year.

“So far, there was relatively less competitive imperative to go abroad.  There was an opportunity to fill the domestic supply gap due to Kingfisher's collapse and SpiceJet's reduced capacity. Second, the 5/20 rule restricted competitors.  As a result, there was no hurry to expand international presence, and capturing and  dominating the domestic maket first made more sense. IndiGo's international strategy could change with the relaxation of 5/20 rule.  However, it  could depend on new entrants' plans. If players such as Vistara focus on long-haul international, it wouldn't make a significant change to IndiGo's strategy,” said aviation consultant Anurag Jain.