After ferrying 100 million passengers in 2023, India’s largest airline IndiGo has joined a select group of carriers globally. Only a handful of airlines in the world have carried over 100 million passengers in a calendar year, and IndiGo is the first Indian airline to do so.
“In CY (calendar year) 2022, the airline welcomed 78 million passengers on board (slightly above pre Covid-19 levels). IndiGo recently achieved another first for India, by becoming the first airline to operate more than 2,000 flights a day. Today, IndiGo operates to 118 destinations, including 32 international destinations,” the airline said in a statement.
IndiGo is India’s largest airline in the domestic as well as international segments. In November, IndiGo had a domestic market share (by passengers carried) of 61.8 per cent, nearly six times the market share of the distant second Air India. In the international segment, IndiGo had a market share of 18.5 per cent in July-September among all international airlines operating flights from and to India.
The airline is also in the process of expanding its network and fleet. Earlier this year, it placed the largest-ever aircraft order in history, ordering 500 Airbus A320 family planes. In addition to the yet-to-be-delivered planes from earlier orders, IndiGo now has close to 1,000 planes on order, with deliveries planned well into the next decade.
“Over the last 6 months, IndiGo has added more than 20 new international routes to its network while strengthening domestic connectivity. Over the next few months, the airline aims to further add destinations like Bali, Indonesia, and Medina, Saudi Arabia to its network and deliver growth in the most financially and environmentally sound way possible,” IndiGo said.
IndiGo’s mega aircraft order and rapid network expansion reflects the carrier’s optimism about the growth potential of India’s aviation market, which has already become the third-largest globally and is growing at a breakneck speed. The increase in IndiGo’s air passenger traffic mirrors the rapid recovery that the Indian aviation sector has seen coming out of the pandemic.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd Sukalp Sharma 
Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. Before joining The Indian Express, Sukalp had long and enriching stints at financial newswire Informist and the Express Group’s pink paper The Financial Express. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. … Read More