IndiGo Airline Aims To Carry 100 Million Passengers By March 2024: CEO Pieter Elbers

IndiGo Airline CEO Pieter Elbers said the budget carrier aims to fly 100 million passengers in FY24, as against flew 86 million flyers in FY23.

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IndiGo aims to carry 100 million passengers in the year ending March 2024, as the carrier adds more domestic and international routes, its CEO Pieter Elbers said on Monday. The budget carrier flew 86 million passengers in FY23. At a media briefing on the sidelines of the IATA World Air Transport Summit here, Elbers said the airline expects to have around 350 planes in its fleet by the end of this fiscal (FY24). Currently, the carrier has more than 300 aircraft.

IndiGo is India's largest airline with more than 57 per cent domestic market share. According to him, the airline will continue to look at having a larger international market share. Last week, IndiGo announced that it will start direct flights to six new destinations in Africa and Central Asia, including to Nairobi, Tbilisi and Tashkent, this year.

Embarking on "massive" international expansion plans, the carrier will connect Nairobi in Kenya and Jakarta in Indonesia, with direct flights from Mumbai in late July or early August."

Delhi will get connected in August to Tbilisi, Georgia & Baku, Azerbaijan and in September to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Almaty, Kazakhstan," IndiGo said in a release on Friday. To a query on bilateral flying rights, Elbers said it is up to the government to decide on whether to give more rights or not. It requires a "tailor-made approach," he added.

Regarding issues with Pratt & Whitney engine issues, Elbers said the airline, like others, has an issue with supply chain challenges and that it has taken a whole range of mitigating measures.

To a query on whether IndiGo would be joining an airline alliance, the CEO said, "if home is the largest country in terms of population why should we restrict ourselves to one alliance".