IndiGo EGM: CEO Ronojoy Dutta assures shareholders of stronger recovery

Dutta said that while at the moment, flight bookings have taken a hit given the outbreak of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the aviation industry in India is still showing strong signs of recovery and any fall in bookings is likely to be temporary.

Moneycontrol News

December 30, 2021 / 15:19 IST

IndiGo's chief executive officer Ronojoy Dutta on December 30 assured shareholders of the airline that the company will emerge stronger after facing nearly two years of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the extraordinary-general meeting (EGM) of InterGlobe Aviation, Dutta said that while at the moment, flight bookings have taken a hit given the outbreak of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the aviation industry in India is still showing strong signs of recovery and any fall in bookings is likely to be temporary.

The EGM was called by promoters of IndiGo Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia to propose amendments to the carrier's Articles of Association (AoA) that would resolve the issues between the two.

If the resolution is accepted, it would end the dispute between the owners Bhatia and Gangwal, who collectively hold 74.44 percent of the paid-up equity share capital and have been at loggerheads for more than two years now.

The resolution is expected to pass smoothly, given that both the promoters have jointly called the meeting. Once passed, it would allow either side to sell or transfer shares to a third party, without giving each other notice.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

Show