IndiGo inducts first freighter aircraft

No-frills carrier IndiGo on Thursday announced the induction of its first freighter aircraft, converted from a passenger plane. The airline is already a market leader in the domestic passenger segment in the country with a fleet of over 275 aircraft, operating over 1,600 daily flights to and from 74 domestic destinations.

In addition, as part of its international operations, it caters to 26 destinations in the overseas market. The induction of A321 P2F (passenger to freighter) will help the airline offer cargo services on both domestic and international routes, IndiGo said.

The aircraft will be able to service markets between China in the east and the Gulf in the west, as well as the CIS countries to the north, the airline said. IndiGo also said it will be utilising the same pool of pilots and engineers that fly and service its current fleet for the cargo plane.

The CarGo business brought in revenues when the scheduled commercial flights were at a standstill. Our partnership with the Airbus for freighter programme will further help strengthen our business in the CarGo segment," said Mahesh Malik, Chief Commercial Officer - CarGo, IndiGo. The narrow-bodied freighter aircraft offers 24 container positions with a payload capacity of up to 27 tonnes.

The conversion of full passenger planes into cargo aircraft is being carried out under a programme involving ST Engineering and Airbus with their joint venture, Elbe FlugzeugWerke (EFW), according to the airline.