IndiGo to induct 50 smaller aircraft; UDAN initiative set to benefit

IndiGo, India’s largest airline in terms of market share, plans to introduce 50 smaller aircraft to ply on regional routes, thus giving a major boost to government's 'UDAN' initiative.

The new turboprop aircraft for regional operations would be run by a separate division, as announced by IndiGo.

UDAN, Indian government’s regional connectivity scheme, has got good response from both passengers and operators. Under the scheme, Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, has started flights between Delhi and Shimla; while Hyderabad-based TruJet has connected Hyderabad to Cuddapa and Nanded.

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As per IndiGo plans, turboprop aircraft operation will start this year and 20 planes will be inducted by the end of 2017.

"In support of our Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi's UDAN vision, we are embarking on a journey to build a nationwide regional network and connect cities that have not benefited from the growth in Indian aviation," said a statement from IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh.

Travel industry insiders expect that the UDAN scheme will give at least 3-4%p push to India’s aviation growth.

"With domestic aviation growing at around 20% y-o-y, we expect that UDAN rollout across the country, and entry of new players (Qatar at national level, and regional carriers at state level) will help aviation grow faster in the country," Aloke Bajpai, CEO at travel search engine ixigo.com, told ET.

(Image source Bangalore Aviation)