InterGlobe to launch IndiGo in August

BANGALORE: The competition in the low-cost aviation segment is all set to get tougher. InterGlobe Entreprises — is gearing up to launch its budget carrier. IndiGo Airlines will be launched after the company gets “pending approvals” from the government by the end of July, comapny officials said.

“As we had said earlier, we will be launching our airline in the first week of August after taking the delivery of the first A-320 in July. We are also awaiting certain permissions from the government. Only after we get that, we will formally announce our launch,” an IndiGo Airline spokesperson said.

The travel company has caused a “massive churn” in the aviation industry as it builds its airline team. An industry source said that InterGlobe managing director Rahul Bhatia and the company’s vice-president, human resources, were doing the rounds of Guwahati, Pune and Bangalore to recruit airline staff.

Also, as per unconfirmed information, the Vijay Mallya-run Kingfisher Airlines has already lost a senior executive to the yet-to-be-launched carrier. The former executive director of Kingfisher, Parvez Damania, who had quit about two months ago, is said to have joined IndiGo at a senior level. The airline, which is jointly promoted by Rakesh Gangwal and Bhatia, has drawn up ambitious plans to enter the aviation sector with 100 aircraft. The launch was planned in February but the date was later pushed to mid-July.

Meanwhile, analysts said August was not the best time to start airline services because August and September were lean phases in the domestic aviation industry.