Indian carrier IndiGo Airlines has plans to launch services to 24 new international destinations, including Vietnam, in the next 18 months.
IndiGo Airlines aircraft (Source: livemint.com)
The planned routes comprise 18 short ones to the Middle East, Southeast Asia and China, and 6 long routes to France, Germany, Belgium, the UK, Italy and Switzerland.
IndiGo Airlines is scheduled to operate flights to new destinations in Afghanistan, France, Germany, Iran, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and the UK during the period from October 2018 to March 2019.
From March 2019 to October 2019, the airline will open routes to Vietnam, Belgium, Italy, Myanmar, Switzerland, Thailand and China.
IndiGo Airlines is the largest of its kind in India, according to Business Insider online. The airline owns 39.5 percent of the country’s market share. It has a fleet of 163 aircraft as of March 2018.
The carrier also plans to expand the fleet to 200 by the end of the 2018-2019 fiscal year.
Currently, IndiGo Airlines is operating international routes to Nepal, Oman, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.
In March 2018, the first direct air route, run by Vietjet Air connecting Ho Chi Minh City and India’s New Delhi was launched during President Tran Dai Quang’s visit to India, with four flights a week.
India is now one of the 10 leading trade partners of Vietnam while Vietnam is the fourth biggest trade partner of India in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).-VNA