IndiGo, the largest and fastest growing low cost carrier in India, said it has taken delivery of its first ATR 72-600 aircraft (VT-IYA) thus taking the company one step closer to the launch of its Turboprop operations by year-end.

 

The new aircraft joined IndiGo's ever-growing fleet at a special ceremony held at ATR headquarters in Toulouse, France. It was received by Captain Ashim Mittra, VP for Flight Operations at IndiGo. 

 

Announcing the ATR induction, Captain Mittra said: "It is in sync with IndiGo’s plans for regional aviation and in response to the growing demand on its existing routes."

 

"With this move, IndiGo is poised to take On-Time and Hassel-Free experience to passengers in Tier II and Tier III cities. By the end of 2017, IndiGo will operate over 1,000 daily flights connecting 46 destinations," he noted. 

 

IndiGo in October 2017 had announced its plan to further strengthen its regional operations with over 90 new flight connections that include routes to and from Tirupati, Rajahmundry, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mangalore, Madurai and Nagpur. 

 

Later reading out a message from Aditya Ghosh, President and Whole Time Director of IndiGo, at a media gathering at Toulouse, Captain Mittra, said: "We are now one step closer to the launch of our Turboprop operations by the end of this year. The teams have put in a lot of hard work in order to launch our regional operations within a relatively short period of time."

 

"Actually just 9 months! We are excited at the opportunity of once again being able to redefine air travel in India by bringing the reliability and efficiency of IndiGo’s operations to towns and regions in our country which so far have been devoid of reliable air service or have been subject to exorbitant air fares," said the letter from Ghosh. 

 

"We are proud of our association. As we say at IndiGo, we are all set and Turbochraged!," he added.

 

Christian Scherer, the chief executive at ATR, said: "IndiGo is a much respected airline which pays particular attention to every single detail relating to quality. Today’s delivery to such a renowned airline underlines once again the quality and the suitability of the ATR -600 and shows why it is unrivalled in the regional market."

 

"IndiGo’s choice highlights their commitment to offering passengers only the very best. India’s rapidly expanding domestic market represented close to 100 million passengers last year, and has been steadily growing by more than 20 per cent annually," noted Scherer. 

 

"As the country is expected to become the world’s third largest market by 2020, we are proud of playing a key role in such an expansion of the air connectivity," he added.-TradeArabia News Service