The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has given its nod to full-service carriers Vistara and no-frills IndiGo to operate new international flights from August. Vistara had sought the regulator’s nod to launch its flight service from New Delhi to Bali in Indonesia, while Vistara proposed to start air connectivity from New Delhi to Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, a senior official said.
“IndiGo operations on Delhi-Tbilisi (route) from August 7 and Vistara operations (on) Delhi-Bali (route) from August 1 have been approved,” he said. Vistara is in the process of merging with Air India, which is now owned by the Tata group. In February this year, IndiGo announced plans to launch its air services to Kenya and Indonesia.
Indigo will buy 500 Airbus aircraft
Meanwhile, IndiGo has placed an order for 500 narrow-body planes with Airbus. This is the largest aircraft order ever placed by any airline on Airbus. Financial details of the order were not disclosed. Earlier this year, Tata Group-owned Air India placed orders for 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing.
At present Indigo operates more than 300 aircraft. It has a total of 480 aircraft on back order, which are yet to be delivered. The company further said, “This will provide the airline with a further steady stream of deliveries between 2030 and 2035. This 500 aircraft order is not only IndiGo’s largest ever order, but also the largest single aircraft purchase by any airline along with Airbus.” Is.”
The Gurugram-based airline said the aircraft purchase agreement was signed between the airline and Airbus at the Paris Air Show 2023. This (order) will provide IndiGo another steady stream of deliveries between 2030 and 2035.
Air India had ordered 470 aircraft
In February, Tata Group-owned Air India placed a firm order for 470 aircraft with Airbus and Boeing. Of those, 250 will be supplied by Airbus and 220 by Boeing, while there is also an option to buy another 370 aircraft from the two aircraft makers. The firm order includes 70 wide-body aircraft.
Earlier this month, Akasa Air CEO Vinay Dube told PTI that the airline would place “triple-digit orders” for the small-sized aircraft. The airline, which took off in August last year, has 19 aircraft and the 20th aircraft is scheduled to join the fleet in July.
1,100 aircraft to be delivered in coming years
Currently, Indian airlines have placed orders for over 1,100 aircraft which are to be delivered in the coming years. Indigo is to take delivery of around 500 aircraft, GoFirst is to receive 72 aircraft, Akasa Air is to take 56 aircraft and Vistara is to take 17 aircraft. In addition, SpiceJet has aircraft on order. These are all narrow body aircraft.
With IndiGo’s latest order, domestic carriers now have orders for over 1,600 aircraft. Troubled GoFirst has been stalled since May 3. There are about 700 commercial aircraft flying in India and most of them are narrow body aircraft.
(With PTI inputs)