IndiGo: Bookings open but where is the fleet?

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A slew of low-cost carriers are waiting to take to the skies. But the real buzz has been created by IndiGo, which stunned the market by placing an order for 100 aircrafts. CNBC-TV18 reports that though bookings are open for its August 1 launch, the fleet is yet to arrive.

IndiGo surprised many aviation watchers when it announced it was ordering 100 aircrafts from Airbus. It is one of the biggest orders for any domestic airline at the 2005 Paris air show. All these aircrafts are single aisle carriers and most of them are A-320s.The turbulence at Airbus globally does not seem to be worrying the IndiGo management.

IndiGo, however, is anxious to get the green signal from the Civil Aviation Ministry. IndiGo hopes that the arrival of their fleet will ensure all regulatory approvals. November 2005 was the take-off date for IndiGo but their decision of using their own aircrafts instead of leased ones forced them to push it to the August 1 this year.

The IndiGo management considers SpiceJet as their closest competitor. While they haven't given details about their pricing strategy, they hope efficiency will be the differentiator. Not having a fleet on the ground hasn't stopped them from inviting bookings even as they say no to equity infusion.