IndiGo mulling to acquire stake in crisis-hit Go First? Check what the CEO said

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of InterGlobe Aviation, operator of India's biggest airline, IndiGo, Pieter Elbers, has dismissed reports of the company buying a stake in crisis-hit GoFirst. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, he said that he is not responding to any rumours, and that IndiGo is focused on self-development only.

Elbers, however, mentioned during the company’s quarterly earnings call that it is in touch with airports to temporarily give them GoFirst slots.

IndiGo quarterly results

IndiGo reported its June quarter earnings on Wednesday where the low-cost carrier posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,091 crore. During the same period a year ago, the company had posted a loss of Rs 1,064 crores. IndiGo’s revenue from operations jumped 30 per cent year on year (YOY) to Rs 16,683 crore during the reporting quarter.

Go First crisis

It all came into the public domain when Go First, owned by Wadia group, said it is cancelling all its flights for two days on May 3, and May 4 in view of fund shortage.

“Go First is facing a financial crunch due to non-supply of engines by US-based jet engines manufacturer Pratt and Whitney (P&W) that has forced grounding more than 50 planes,” Go First official was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The company is currently undergoing insolvency proceedings where the National Company Law Tribunal will resume hearings on August 7. Go First flights issued a statement on Thursday saying that its flight cancellation has been extended till August 6 due to “operational reasons”.

IndiGo’s expansion plans

The low-cost airline has expanded its international operations through codeshare agreements with local airlines. It’s now flying to 34 European destinations in partnership with Turkish Airlines.

The CEO also said in the interview that the US codeshares are doing well with connections to Istanbul. The airline is now connecting over 110 destinations with over 500 routes.

IndiGo has announced that it will be commencing its flight operations to Kenya’s capital Nairobi later this week. After this, Nairobi will become IndiGo's 27th international and 105th overall destination in the 6E network. The airline said that it will connect Nairobi with direct flights from Mumbai and the booking has been opened for the daily non-stop flights between the cities, starting August 5, 2023, according to Moneycontrol.

CEO Elbers also mentioned about the direct flights between Mumbai and Indonesian capital Jakarta, and from New Delhi to Tbilisi, Almaty and Tashkent that will begin this week. 

"And with that, you see that our relative share of available seat kilometers is moving from the low 20s to a 30 percent of our network," Elbers said in the interview.

Speaking about expansion in the domestic aviation sector, Elbers told CNBC-TV18 that despite the growing share of IndiGo's international business, the domestic market remains its foundation and backbone.

IndiGo’s 79th domestic destination will be Karnataka’s Shivamogga, as per information available on the company website.