Largest Indian carrier IndiGo has become the first Indian airline to carry 100 million passengers in a single calendar year. With this achievement, it has joined a select club of global carriers to operate on such scale.
In a press statement, IndiGo says this development further cements IndiGo’s standing among the 10 largest airlines in the world by passenger traffic.
IndiGo, which celebrated its 17th anniversary this year has also become one of the fastest airlines to reach the 100 million passenger figure. In CY 2022, the airline welcomed 78 million passengers onboard, slightly above pre-Covid19 levels.
The statement says that the new milestone represents a 28 pc increase in passenger traffic for 2023. IndiGo recently achieved another first for India, by becoming the first airline to operate more than 2,000 flights a day. IndiGo currently operates to 118 destinations, including 32 international destinations.
“We are incredibly delighted to achieve this historic milestone, welcoming aboard 100 million passengers in a year. This landmark figure is the result of the love and trust shown by our customers and the hard work and passion of all IndiGo colleagues. This milestone is also a validation of our strategy which has been executed so diligently. At IndiGo, we are proud to give wings to the nation, by connecting people and aspirations for the past 17 years, making air travel accessible for hundreds of millions of Indians,” says Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive Officer.
In 2022, IndiGo embarked on a growth strategy under 3 strategic pillars, ‘Reassure, Develop and Create’ to support its growth plans, as it aims to double in size and scale by the end of this decade. To fuel these ambitions, the airline placed a historic order of 500 new aircraft with Airbus. This order is in addition to the over 450 aircraft orders that IndiGo had placed earlier, adds the statement.