IndiGo will have to wait a year for flying overseas

New Delhi: IndiGo Airlines, the most successful low-fare carrier in Indian skies, has to wait another year before it can begin its overseas journey.
This, even as competitor SpiceJet began international operations with a flight to Kathmandu this morning. So does IndiGo feel left out?
President Aditya Ghosh told DNA in a freewheeling chat, “We were among the last airlines to start domestic operations also and look where we’ve reached.” On Wednesday, this airline received an in-principle approval from the ministry of civil aviation to begin overseas operations in 2011.
Ghosh’s optimism on making up for lost time even on international routes does not seem misplaced, given IndiGo’s robust financial performance in the past year. In fiscal 2010, the airline generated Rs720 crore cash on its books. Revenue growth was a healthy 35% to Rs2,664.5 crore whereas profitability shot up five times to Rs550 crore.
Ghosh said the airline is “comfortable” with financing its massive fleet expansion programme (adding 150 aircraft) even as it looks to raise substantial amounts of money to finance expansion going forward. IndiGo has already given a mandate to five merchant bankers to devise a fundraising plan — which could be a public offer, debt route or a combination.
08/10/10 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Indigo Airlines Oct 2010