Marking a shift from a ‘no-frill airline’ to cater to premium fliers, India’s largest airline IndiGo has notified about the introduction of business class seats in mid-November. The airline is set to provide this facility on 12 major domestic routes, according to its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pieter Elbers who revealed the information at the airline’s 18 anniversary event on 5 August.
As far as the pricing is concerned, the airline will provide premium-class services at an introductory price of Rs 18,018.
According to Elbers, the bookings for business class seats will be open from 6 August on the Delhi-Mumbai route. Going ahead, the airline seeks to have business class in all metro cities from the national capital. The CEO said, “Starting tomorrow, the passengers travelling between metro cities will have the option to book business class seats on the IndiGo Flights.”
The airline will offer business class services on 12 domestic routes, targeting the most business-oriented routes in cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.
IndiGo, on 23 May, notified about the plans to bring in business class seats on a few select routes later this year. Elbers highlighted the shift for the airline and mentioned the quality of new business class service. He said, “It’s going to be a real good business class.”
The CEO also revealed the plans to introduce ‘IndiGo BluChip’, a customer loyalty programme in an attempt to recognise and reward the most loyal, frequent flyers.
Currently, Indigo operates on a no-frills model which includes the policy of having more passengers in a dense cabin along with charging the fliers extra for food and seat allocation among other facilities. With this policy, Indigo has managed to capture nearly 61 per cent market in the domestic segment.
