IndiGo to begin new flights to six cities

Even as airlines around the world are going towards cost-cutting measures, New Delhi-based no-frills carrier IndiGo Airlines is looking at more destinations to expand its network.

The airline is mulling over launch of new flights from six more cities in India. According to the airline, the new destinations will most probably be Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Jaipur. Among these Chennai and Hyderabad would be the only South Indian cities that are in the IndiGo radar. Start of Mumbai flights comes at a time when the commercial capital of India stays ravaged by terror. However,

The airline will operate 121 daily flights, connecting 17 destinations sarting this month. With this expansion, the airline will also offer its seventh daily service on the busy Mumbai-Delhi route.

The airline officials say that though these are extremely challenging times for not just Mumbai but for the entire nation, it believes it is important to connect the commercial capital of India. The airline, which currently has about 18 aircraft in operation, had recently said it was in talks to join the Jet Airways-Kingfisher Airlines alliance to cut costs to overcome a downturn.

It was reported that IndiGo has had detailed discussions with liquor baron and promoter of Kingfisher Airlines, Vijay Mallya to be part of the alliance. Industry observers feel that going for the alliance would make sense for IndiGo as it will result in substantial cost savings for the airline. Further, both Kingfisher and IndiGo operate Airbus fleet and can maintain common engineering and maintenance facilities if the alliance happens. IndiGo has a market share of around 10 per cent and an order book of 100 aircraft with European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.