A startup Indian airline backed by the former CEO of U.S. Airways startled the industry with a mammoth, $6B order for 100 planes at the Paris Air Show last week:
The order for 100 Airbus aircraft… is the biggest single order from India and the biggest, as well, for a single Airbus model (A320)… [Rahul] Bhatia may have been emboldened to take the plunge, backed by former US Airways head Rakesh Gangwal, who he has known for 20 years…… the biggest advantage his IndiGo, designed to be a budget carrier, has, is size. With 100 aircraft, it will be able to touch all airports in the country with multiple connections… IndiGo will be able to connect the lucrative metro routes with flights every half-an-hour… “We will connect every possible destination in India.” [Business Standard]
Gangwal apparently took the phrase ‘aviator frames’ literally :) I love the airline name but am skeptical of the cash-rich naïf story. A high-profile team, unproven in a new market, drums up massive startup funding and makes confident proclamations about dominating the sector. Webvan, anyone?
Even before IndiGo’s buy, India had ordered almost half the world’s output of airliners in the last few months:
In the last nine months, India alone has booked 250 aircraft, nearly half of the orders for the entire industry worldwide. [Deccan Herald]
Besides the budget carriers, a new category of premium airlines is arising. In typical desi style, they don’t want an efficient shortcut, they want the whole experience: a high cost structure, bankruptcy and then a belated turn to the budget carrier model ;)
Paramount, from the Coimbatore-based textile company of the same name, will be a different kind of airline. While all the new airlines starting in the country are no-frills, low cost carriers… Its 70-seater aircraft from Brazil’s [Embraer], will be a business class airline — contrary to the all-economy class budget carriers. Paramount, which plans to take to the skies in August next, believes that there is enough premium traffic to be targeted in the country. [Deccan Herald]
I still question the wisdom of painting on airplanes a name which evokes ‘mountain.’ Those are two things which never should meet.
Update: Kingfisher Airlines also announced a $3B order for the Airbus double-decker:
Kingfisher, another Indian startup that has been flying for five weeks and owns two single-aisle airplanes, on Wednesday announced a $3 billion list-price order that included five superjumbo A380 jets. [Seattle Times]
Boeing poked holes in its rival’s story, though there are sizeable upgrades underway for India’s airports, and these planes aren’t due for delivery for a few years:
All Indian airlines together now have a combined fleet of 165 airliners, [Boeing’s Indian sales chief Dinesh Keskar] said… the Indian airport infrastructure is strained to accommodate them and there is a big shortage of pilots, he said. “It’s unrealistic for any one entity to fly in India with 100 airplanes,” he said. “Where are you going to park them?”… Another barrier, Keskar said, is that all aircraft purchases in India have to be approved by the government. Keskar said the government would likely withhold approval that would strain the nation’s aviation infrastructure…Airbus seemed to play down the stunning IndiGo order, which was announced only in a news release. None of the management team from India was in Paris to answer questions. [Seattle Times]
Update 2: Mariner comments at Airliners.net:
I am as sceptical about Kingfisher’s 5 x A380 as anyone. At the same time, I do not under-estimate the power of ambition in successful people. If they want to do it - and can raise the money - why not?… if we barred people from starting cheeky airlines, Sir Richard Branson would still be running a gay disco in London.
