IndiGo will always remain a low-cost airline: Rahul Bhatia

livemint.com:

NEW DELHI : India's largest airline IndiGo (InterGlobe Aviation Ltd), which offered low-cost all-economy seats so far, has announced the launch of ‘IndiGo Stretch’ business class. The airline, which started in 2006 with 100 aircraft in the pipeline, now has a fleet of over 380 aircraft and expects to receive more than 970 aircraft over the next decade. Mint spoke to the airline's promoter and managing director, Rahul Bhatia, about the airline's journey and what lies ahead as it enters the next phase of business with long-haul operations and business class seats.

Bhatia, who holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Waterloo, entered air transport management with IndiGo’s parent company, InterGlobe, in 1989. He co-founded IndiGo in 2006 with Rakesh Gangwal. However, the partnership fell apart in 2019.

In February 2022, Gangwal resigned from the board as a non-executive, non-independent director. As of June, he has decreased his shareholding in the airline to 19.4% from 36.7% in 2019. Rahul Bhatia-headed InterGlobe Enterprises is IndiGo's largest shareholder.

After selling 2% stake in June through a block deal for over ₹3,360 crore, the promoter group led by Bhatia is left a 35.91% stake in the airline. Addressing concerns about his reduced shareholding, Bhatia reiterated: “InterGlobe and I are here to stay." Edited excerpts: It has been an interesting journey. It has had its ups and downs.

This is my view despite the fact that we thought we had a great start, in 2008, when the fuel prices spiked, we were at the brink of bankruptcy. We came out of that and life was good for several years. Of course, then covid arrived, and we had to deal with that.