India’s largest airline IndiGo will launch its “tailor-made” business class product — IndiGoStretch —from mid-November on the Delhi-Mumbai route, and ticket sales for the same will start from Tuesday.
The carrier, which has been tagged as a budget airline for long, will be launching business class for 12 routes.
This move, which was ostensibly in the works for some time now, marks a strategic shift in IndiGo’s product offering. In its 18 years of existence, IndiGo has championed the one-size-fits-all single-class cabin configuration.
IndiGo’s business class cabin will have 12 seats from Recaro in a two-by-two configuration. The business class meals will be curated by Oberoi Hotels, IndiGo’s Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers announced at an event to mark the airline’s 18th anniversary.
“Considering India’s soaring economy and the evolving aspirations of Indian society, it’s time for IndiGo to redefine premium travel in India, increasing the availability of this service for the nation. It will create a desired option for many who are aiming to travel business, perhaps for the first time in their lives,” IndiGo had said in May when it announced its intention to launch a business class product on India’s busiest and business routes.
Industry watchers see the competition from the Tata group’s full service carriers (FSCs) Air India and Vistara for business travellers and those willing to pay a premium for extra comfort as a key reason behind this move and some other decisions taken by IndiGo in recent months. Yields from business and premium classes are usually notably higher than the more price-sensitive economy class. On the flipside, having a premium class products also lead to higher costs for airlines.
According to Elbers, despite the business class product adding some complexity and costs for the airline, IndiGo will continue to maintain its position of cost leadership in the market.
The airline’s decision to introduce a business class cabin on select domestic routes is being seen as a precursor to the it offering a business class product on its international routes as well, particularly on those that see high business travel as well as medium and long-haul international routes that the airline plans to operate over the coming years by inducting aircraft like the A321XLR—the extra long-range variant of the narrow body A321 aircraft—and the wide body A350, which can operate long-haul flights.
The airline recently also announced its plans to enter the long-haul market with an order of 30 Airbus A350-900 wide body aircraft. So far, IndiGo has operated a fleet of over 350 narrow body aircraft, except for two Boeing 777 planes that are on damp lease and are exclusively used to operate flights to and from Istanbul.
After dominating the domestic skies with a market share of over 60 per cent, IndiGo has more recently been focussing on expanding its international network and operations, heating up the competition with not just Air India and Vistara, but also foreign carriers.
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