Vayudoot, the defunct state-owned airline, tried to change the flying habit of Indians in 1990, but failed to do it. Twenty five years later, IndiGo, along with its full-service competitor Jet Airways, is trying again.
IndiGo, the country's largest airline by market share, will introduce late night flights from Delhi to Chennai, and Bengaluru from October 15. The next day, its Delhi-Mumbai connection starts flying, with the return flight leaving Mumbai at 2 am and landing at the Capital at 4.10 am. In April, Jet Airways had introduced such flights on three domestic sectors-- Mumbai-Delhi, Delhi-Kolkata and Delhi-Pune.
“IndiGo’s move to offer late night flights, popularly known as ‘Red Eyes’ in the West, is probably a response to similar plans by its rivals," says Dhiraj Mathur, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
SpiceJet CCO Sanjiv Kapoor told BusinessLine that the airline will ‘soon’ announce plans for late night flights.
A senior management professional with a European firm says that night flights are a perfect way to finish a business meeting in cities such as Mumbai or Delhi where airports are far from the business centres.
“If you are say on a 9 pm flight from Mumbai you will want to leave the meeting by 5-5.30 pm so that you do not get caught in traffic and miss the flight. A 2 am departure means you can finish the meeting at leisure and probably also have an early dinner," says the professional.
07/10/15 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line
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IndiGo, the country's largest airline by market share, will introduce late night flights from Delhi to Chennai, and Bengaluru from October 15. The next day, its Delhi-Mumbai connection starts flying, with the return flight leaving Mumbai at 2 am and landing at the Capital at 4.10 am. In April, Jet Airways had introduced such flights on three domestic sectors-- Mumbai-Delhi, Delhi-Kolkata and Delhi-Pune.
“IndiGo’s move to offer late night flights, popularly known as ‘Red Eyes’ in the West, is probably a response to similar plans by its rivals," says Dhiraj Mathur, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
SpiceJet CCO Sanjiv Kapoor told BusinessLine that the airline will ‘soon’ announce plans for late night flights.
A senior management professional with a European firm says that night flights are a perfect way to finish a business meeting in cities such as Mumbai or Delhi where airports are far from the business centres.
“If you are say on a 9 pm flight from Mumbai you will want to leave the meeting by 5-5.30 pm so that you do not get caught in traffic and miss the flight. A 2 am departure means you can finish the meeting at leisure and probably also have an early dinner," says the professional.
07/10/15 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line
