Article Posted on : - Feb 11, 2012

The A-320neo jet. File photo

NEW DELHI (PTI): IndiGo Friday took delivery of its 50th Airbus A-320 aircraft, with which it would launch additional flights connecting Mumbai, Coimbatore, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata next week.

With this addition in its fleet, the no-frill carrier would start the new flights connecting Mumbai to Coimbatore and Bhubaneswar and one new flight from Kolkata to Bhubaneswar from February 16, an airline spokesperson said.

Inducting the 50th aircraft into its operational fleet, IndiGo President Aditya Ghosh said the airline had the youngest fleet and was the fastest growing carrier in the country.

"Having flown over 39.46 million in over 277,900 flights since launch, IndiGo has achieved immense success in the Indian skies, and continues to show steady growth. The induction of its 50th aircraft is yet another proof of the commitment to customer experience and growth," he said in a statement.

The airline would take delivery 45 brand new Airbus A-320s of an earlier order of 100 of these planes, till 2015.

IndiGo, which placed one of the world's largest airplane orders last year by announcing to buy 180 Airbus aircraft, would have deliveries scheduled between 2016 and 2025.

The spokesperson said the same type of Airbus planes shared the same cockpit and had operational commonality, allowing airlines to use the same pool of pilots, cabin crews and maintenance engineers, bringing operational flexibility and resulting in significant cost savings.

IndiGo has the second largest market share of 20.4 per cent among all Indian carriers. The airline currently offers 307 daily flights connecting 31 destinations in India, apart from its international services which started last September.