In 1988, Rahul Bhatia started his own travel company called 'Interglobe', known today as IndiGo.
Rahul Bhatia is known as the king of the skies today with IndiGo dominating the Indian airspace, transporting over 8 crore people every year. His company is valued at Rs 1,46,490.49 crore. However, Rahul Bhatia's journey wasn't without turbulence as he faced many challenges before becoming a name to reckon with. His father ran a travel business called Delhi Express. However, after 20 years, the business collapsed. With a degree in electrical engineering, Rahul Bhatia who worked at IBM, felt the push to do something big.
In 1988, Rahul Bhatia started his own travel company called 'Interglobe', known today as IndiGo. In the Indian stock market, the company is recognised as Interglobe Aviation Ltd., with a BSE code of 539448.
In 2004, he obtained an airline license, marking the beginning of IndiGo's story. While other players in the industry were struggling financially, Rahul Bhatia placed an order for 100 aircraft worth $6.5 billion at the 2005 Paris Air Show. The first flight of Indigo took off from New Delhi to Imphal via Guwahati in 2006, changing the aviation industry's landscape.
By 2007, Indigo had 15 more aircraft in its fleet. By 2010, the company had revolutionised the entire aviation industry with sales of Rs 2,664 crore.
While two major airlines in India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher, were incurring losses of Rs 2,114 crore, IndiGo was making a profit of Rs 550 crore. IndiGo captured 17.3% of the market share, surpassing Air India to become India's third-largest airline.
Indigo's success was attributed to its business model and meticulous planning. The company offered up to a 40% discount on bulk orders and replaced old planes with new ones every six years. In 2011, when the company obtained a license to operate international flights, Rahul Bhatia ordered 180 Airbus A320neo aircraft worth around $15 billion.
Rahul Bhatia focused on the economy class, configuring each aircraft to accommodate 180 passengers. The company didn't charge anything for in-flight entertainment and stayed away from airline lounges. In 2013, the company captured 27% of the market share, leaving Jet Airways behind. IndiGo had become India's largest airline.
In 2015, IndiGo's parent company, Interglobe, launched an IPO worth Rs 3,008.5 crore. The IPO received 6.63 times more bids than expected, valuing IndiGo at Rs44,290 crore. According to a 2023 report by statista.com, IndiGo remains India's largest airline with a 54.7% market share, followed by Vistara at 10.4% and Air India at 9.3%.
Currently, Indigo operates 1,800 flights daily, connecting over 100 destinations worldwide. According to Bloomberg, IndiGo's founder Rahul Bhatia's net worth is $7.54 billion (Rs 62,870 crore).
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