No plans yet to buy smaller aircraft: IndiGo

No-frills carrier IndiGo, which has a uniform fleet of Airbus A-320s, today said it has not yet firmed up plans to buy small planes which would help widen its domestic and regional operations.
"There is certainly a market for smaller aircraft in India. We are looking at it, but at what time we will induct these aircraft, I cannot say," Rahul Bhatia, Group Managing Director of InterGlobe Enterprise, the parent company of the airline, said today.
The Civil Aviation Ministry has called for the acquisition of smaller planes by Indian airlines to serve destinations in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.
Talking to reporters at the launch of an ultra-modern pilot simulator training facility here, Bhatia said the airline is yet to decide on either the number of such aircraft which need to be purchased or the manufacturer from whom the same are to be acquired.

On the issue of the company going public, the promoter of the airline, which declared a whopping Rs 787 crore profit last year, said "it is not going to happen tomorrow... May be at some point, although not imminent".
Meanwhile, asked about high airfares, Bhatia said that would continue due to rise in input costs, especially with the hike in fuel prices and the weakening of the value of the Rupee.

"Airline business is a high-currency business but, at IndiGo, we try to keep the fares low. We plan to keep fares low, fill the planes with passengers and earn profit," he said.

Responding to the announcements about two new airlines - AirAsia and Tata-SIA - beginning operations in the country, Bhatia said he was not afraid of competition.
"We welcome the competition. India is an enormously under- served market and there is room for every one to survive," he added.
IndiGo's parent company, InterGlobe Enterprise, and Canada's CAE Simulation Training Private Ltd, today launched their USD 25 million pilot training facility here.