Budget carrier IndiGo Airlines has inducted new Airbus A320neo's to its fleet. The induction of the new aircraft to its fleet could raise the carrier's market share to 50 percent by next year.
Five years ago, the carrier was the first airline to place an order for A320neo. However, the airline faced delays since the engine-maker firm had to cope with engine startup issues and software problems. "The deliveries since the summer have been with new engines' standard. IndiGo received their eight A320neo's last week. So far, we have 20 A320neo's delivered to 7 customers in three continents," Justin Dubon, an Airbus spokesperson was quoted as saying by Mint.
Some of the initially inducted A320neo's will be updated to operate locally until the new aircraft arrive. The advantage of having an A320neo fleet over a regular A320 aircraft is that neo's are fuel efficient.
Aviation turbine fuel or jet fuel takes up about 40 percent of an airline's cost. Therefore, the reduction in fuel burn gives IndiGo great chances in cost-saving measures, an airline executive who did not wish to be named, told the International Business Times, India Edition.
According to the Mint report, IndiGo planes will be replaced by new A320neos and slightly bigger A321neos. In the current financial year, IndiGo plans to add 24 more of these planes.
An analyst quoted by the publication said there could be a correlation between an airline's fleet size and market share. For example, GoAir has a fleet size of 21 aircraft and a domestic market share of eight percent. On the other hand, IndiGo has a fleet size of 115 aircraft and a market share of 39.9 percent (according to DGCA statistics).
"We took delivery of our first Neo in March, expected to be 10 by the end of this month. As of now, we have 22 used airplanes of which 12 are from Tiger," Aditya Ghosh, IndiGo's president had told Mint in mid-September.
The InterGlobe Aviation Ltd stock was trading at Rs 899. 25 at around 1:33 p.m. on Friday, up 0.01 percent from its previous close on the BSE.
