Summary
- IndiGo is considering introducing a premium cabin on some of its planes, with four rows of seats and extra legroom, in an effort to cater to high-end leisure travelers and small business owners.
- The airline, which currently dominates the domestic market, aims to expand its international ambitions with a premium product at lower fares compared to other full-service airlines.
When traveling with India’s low-cost carrier, IndiGo, one knows what to expect. A no-frills experience on a decent airline that gets you from point A to B on time. The seats can be tight, and there’s no complimentary meal service, but mostly reasonable fares and on-time performance make up for that.
But a recent report suggests that the airline could be heading for a significant departure from its current single-cabin model by introducing a premium cabin on some of its planes.
Premium cabins on IndiGo planes?
IndiGo could soon have a premium class on some of its planes. A report by The Economic Times states that the carrier plans to have a two-class layout on some of its Airbus A321 planes by the end of next year. People aware of the matter have informed that the budget carrier could depart from its traditional one-class model and have four rows of seats with extra legroom of around 36 inches.
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Of course, this means that IndiGo will also have to have separate fares for these seats and is said to be in the process of determining how much it could charge for a premium cabin ticket. IndiGo’s CEO had earlier stated that they are open to all possibilities, especially as the carrier expands its offerings to many offshore destinations. He commented,
“The speed of market development is so fast and we have kept all options open. Lot of startups, new companies are being founded in India and they will all go international. All that needs travel and at one point needs a different class of travel.”
International routes
While IndiGo has won a loyal customer base in India who swear by its service and take advantage of its vast network and no-frills approach to travel, it feels the need to change its model somewhat for its longer international routes.
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The airline already has several long-range Airbus A321XLRs on order for potentially flying to long-haul destinations in Europe and the Far East. But many wonder how effective a low-cost approach on a narrowbody long-haul flight would be. IndiGo has, in fact, been contemplating getting business class seats on its XLRs.
Competing with Air India?
For the longest time, IndiGo’s position in the country was largely unchallenged. One could argue that, at almost 64% of the domestic market share, that hasn’t changed much. But with a renewed Air India backed by the likes of the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, IndiGo perhaps feels a growing challenge to its position.
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The low-cost airline believes that with its solid command over the domestic market, it could leverage that position to expand its international ambitions, too – a territory that Air India currently dominates, at least for the long-haul sector.
Sources have also revealed that IndiGo wants to cater to a section of “high-end leisure travellers and small business owners looking for a business class product at fares lower than those charged by legacy airlines.” It remains to be seen how this plays out next year.
What do you think about IndiGo’s plan to introduce a premium cabin on some of its planes? Please leave a comment below.
Source: The Economic Times