Breaking the mould of all-economy, low-cost-carrier (LCC) IndiGo has emerged from its cocoon and transformed into a eighteen year old, one of India's largest domestic airlines with a premium business class offering. In a social media post on Sunday evening, IndiGo's chief executive officer, Peter Elbeirs had said, "Today we celebrate, tomorrow is time for big news," which left the aviation geeks not just across India but all over the world waiting in anticipation. A few weeks back IndiGo had hinted that they will unveil its latest business class offering on the eve of its 18th anniversary and sticking to the plan, the airline unveiled its brand-new business class collection -- 'IndiGoStretch'.
For the first time in 18 years, the airline will offer the comfort, luxury and elegance of business class to domestic passengers. This will be especially significant to frequent business travellers shuttling from one metro to another for client meetings and official work. The airline will launch the business class seats from mid-November on 12- high frequency routes like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.
The bookings for new offering will commence from August 6 with the fares starting at Rs 18,000. Meals for the business class passengers will be catered by Oberoi Group of Hotels. Apart from the business class offering, IndiGo plans to further pamper its customers with ‘Bluchip' loyalty program starting September 2024.
"It is going to be a really good business class," Elbeirs said during the business class unveiling event held in Delhi. He further went on to describe the product as tailor-made and will be operated on busiest and business routes in India. * The seats will be from RECARO, IndiGo’s original seat supplier.
* The seats will have multiple storage options and two-part tray table, the advanced design of which will avoid the need to stow the table in the centre console. * It offers USB port for charging * Seat pitch of 38 inches. IndiGo plans to add 12 business class seats to its A321neo fleet while reducing the economy seats to 208.
Depending on the configuration, IndiGo's A321s are configured with 222 or 232 seats. The airline is expecting the roll-out of first aircraft by the end of 2024. On the occasion of its 18th anniversary the airline also announced an 18% discount on all flights for four days.
(starting August 5). The passengers have to use the code - Use code 'HAPPY18' while doing the booking. As for the market competition the Tata Group airlines – Air India, Air India Express and Vistara offer business class offering for domestic routes in India.
Currently, IndiGo operates over 2,000 flights daily to around 120 destinations, including 33 international cities. A few days back the airline announced new Chennai-Jaffna route. IndiGo has given the passengers a choice to break free from the cramped economy class and bask in the glory of luxury class for a few hours of domestic travel, making the enter passenger seamless and worth remembering.
However, it will be interesting to note how much of a difference will this new offering give Indian middle-class passenger which forms a large majority of frequent traveller on IndiGo. Only time will tell!.
