New Delhi: Low cost start-up carrier IndiGo is set to take off with its maiden flight in August and the carrier is aiming to break even within 18 months of its flights being operational.
"By July last week our first plane will arrive and we expect to start our maiden flight by the first week of August," IndiGo President and CEO Bruce Ashby said.
He said the airline would add one aircraft every month and by the end of December this year, it would have six planes.
Ashby said the airlines had not yet finalised the flight routes to be operated but is looking at "serving Delhi, Mumbai, Guwahati, Imphal, Pune, Hyderabad, Srinagar and Jammu" with its first four aircraft.
Explaining the airline's aircraft acquisition plans, he said IndiGo will have 15 aircrafts by 2007, which will go up to 23 by the end of 2008, adding all the aircraft will be from the Airbus A320 family.
The airline had stunned the aviation industry by placing orders for 100 aircrafts at a list price of over $ 6 billion last year.
Sounding bullish on the Indian aviation sector, Ashby said IndiGo, which will be positioned as "not too expensive, not too cheap" airlines was targeting to have about 7-8 departures a day with 70-80 per cent of full capacity.
"Normally, airlines like us take 18 months to break even. So when we have 15-20 aircrafts operating within the time frame, we should be able to break even," he said, adding the airlines had so far put in Rs 80-100 crore on the venture.
Ashby said the average fare of a flight on IndiGo will be around Rs 3,000 stating the airline "will always follow only one type of fare, that is low".
He said the airline will target to capture passengers from cities with about a million population.
"About 30-32 cities in India fit our criteria and as we expand, we will look at servicing places like Bangalore, Kolkata and Nagpur in the initial phase itself," he said.
Asked if the airline had got all the necessary regulatory approvals, he said it was yet to get the final approval.
"This is given only when we have the aircraft. This should not be an issue once our plane arrives," he said.
Ashby said the airline has already hired a total of 150 people, including pilots, engineers and front desk staff.
"Some of them are undergoing training and some will be starting soon, so that as and when we keep on adding aircraft they are inducted to service," he said.
Asked if the airlines would consider flying to international destinations, he replied in the negative.
"Our focus is pretty clear and we are completely focused on India," he said.
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