New Delhi: India’s biggest discount airline IndiGo, which is operated by InterGlobe Aviation Pvt. Ltd, has sought the civil aviation ministry’s approval to fly on international routes after it completes the mandatory five years of domestic operations in August next year.
The carrier, based in Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi, wants to fly to countries in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), West Asia and China, the airline’s president Aditya Ghosh said in a letter to the ministry, a copy of which was reviewed by Mint.
Saarc member countries include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, besides India. Asean groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
IndiGo’s seeking of approval, almost 18 months before it becomes eligible to operate international flights, mirrors the urgency of having to prepare for an overseas market that’s getting increasingly crowded as rival Indian carriers expand and corner bilateral rights to fly abroad and airport slots at key destinations.
“As planning and implementation of international operations is a long-drawn process, IndiGo has commenced its preparations to enable international operations from 4 August (2011),” Ghosh said in his letter.
Early approval of the request would enable IndiGo, which started operations on 4 August 2006, to start talks with international airports and overseas aviation regulators for mandatory approvals, appoint local staff abroad and make other commercial decisions.
17/03/10 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint
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