The new low-cost carrier, IndiGo, which placed India's biggest orders for 100 Airbus aircraft at the Paris Air Show last year, will start operations in July-August with its own aeroplanes.
"The delivery of our first aircraft will take place some time in July and we will start operations soon thereafter. We plan to start between July 1 and August 5," the airline's president and CEO Bruce Ashby told PTI in an interview.
The budget carrier has placed orders for 100 aircraft of the A-320, A-319 and A-321 make, which belong to the same family having several commonalities especially that of the cockpit.
Ashby said the planes would be delivered one each month from July till the year-end and another nine next year. On an average, ten aircraft would be delivered each year for the next ten years, he said.
On being quizzed on the pricing of tickets, he said it would be consistent with fares being offered by the low-cost carriers in the Indian market like SpiceJet and Air Deccan and "a lot less lower than the legacy carriers like Indian, Air India, Jet Airways and Air Sahara."
The airline had recently submitted its flight schedules for mandatory clearance by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and was in the process of recruiting pilots, crew and other staff required for operations, Ashby said.
Asked about the routes network it would launch its operations on, Ashby said the general pattern would be to operate between metros with stoppages at intermediate points and gave examples like Delhi-Ahmedabad-Mumbai or Mumbai-Indore-Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram.
"There is a huge untapped demand for air travel in India. In big cities like Bhopal or Indore, the market is enormous. Alternative means of connectivity do exist but these are difficult and not quite cheap. We intend to tap this market through the low-cost product," the IndiGo chief elaborated.
Ashby said connecting smaller towns would also lead to satisfying the route dispersal guidelines of the government.
"We will operate to Category-II and III routes on our own which will earn us the credit."
The airline is promoted by Rakesh Gangwal, an aviation industry professional, who has worked in senior positions in US Airways and Air France, and well known Indian travel body InterGlobe.
To keep the costs at the lowest level, several steps would be taken, including using the fleet each day for at least 11 hours, having cross-utilisation of resources and using call centres and the Internet for ticketing.
He made it clear IndiGo would not offer food in flights but may consider supplying water and some snacks though no decision has been taken on the matter as yet.
Ashby, who has worked with major global airlines earlier, said he would strive to use the positive features of the international low-cost carriers like the SouthWest Airlines and Ryan Air.
He said "transparency and simplicity" would be the hallmark of IndiGo's operations and the airline would make it clear to the customers all options about pricing, ticketing, cancellations or delays in flights and other matters, which have been creating problems for the Indian low-cost operators.
On pilots, IndiGo chief said a large number of senior licensed pilots were expected to join to start operations with the first batch of aircraft.
