IndiGo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the Indian airline. For the American airline, see Indigo Airlines (American airline). For the colour,
see Indigo. For the Indianapolis public transportation system, see IndyGo. For other uses, see Indigo (disambiguation).

IndiGo

An IndiGo Airbus A320neo

IATA ICAO Call sign

6E[1] IGO IFLY

Founded 2005; 20 years ago

Commenced 4 August 2006; 19 years ago

operations

Operating bases  Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

International
Airport (Mumbai)

 Chennai International
Airport (Chennai)

 Cochin International
Airport (Kochi)

 Indira Gandhi International

Airport (Delhi)

 Kempegowda International
Airport (Bengaluru)

 Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

International Airport (Kolkata)
  Rajiv Gandhi International
Airport (Hyderabad)

Hubs Indira Gandhi International

Airport (Delhi)

Frequent-flyer BluChip
program

Subsidiaries IndiGo CarGo[2]

Fleet size 434

Destinations 128

Parent company InterGlobe Enterprises Pvt. Ltd.

Traded as  BSE: 539448

 NSE: INDIGO

 NSE NIFTY 50 constituent

ISIN INE646L01027

Headquarters DLF Corporate

Park, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Key people  Rahul Bhatia (MD)[3]

 Pieter Elbers (CEO)[3]

Founders  Rahul Bhatia

 Rakesh Gangwal

Revenue ₹84,098 crore (US$9.9 billion)

(2025)[4]

Operating income ₹21,252 crore (US$2.5 billion)

(2025)[4]

Net income ₹7,258 crore (US$860 million)

(2025)[4]

Total assets ₹115,843 crore (US$14 billion)

(2025)[5]

Total equity ₹9,368 crore (US$1.1 billion) (2025)

[5]

Employees 37,300 (2024)[6]

 Website goindigo.in

InterGlobe Aviation Limited, doing business as IndiGo, is an Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon.[7] It is the
largest airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 65.2% domestic market share as of July 2025.[8] It is
the second largest Asian airline,[citation needed] and one of the largest in the world in terms of passengers carried, with more
than 31.9 million passengers carried in the fourth quarter of 2025.[9] As of June 2025, IndiGo operates over 2,200 daily
flights to 127 destinations – 91 domestic and 36 international.[10][11][12] It operates cargo services under its subsidiary,
IndiGo CarGo.[2] Its primary hub is at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi.

The airline was established as a private company by Rahul Bhatia of InterGlobe Enterprises—an Indian multinational
conglomerate based in Gurugram—[13] and Rakesh Gangwal in 2005. It took delivery of its first aircraft in July 2006 and
commenced operations a month later, on 4 August 2006.[14] The airline became the largest Indian carrier by passenger
market share in December 2012.[15] The company went public in October 2015.[16] IndiGo was ranked the 15th most
punctual airline globally in 2022 by OAG.[17] It is also the 6th busiest airline in the world, as per data from RadarBox.[12]

History

IndiGo was founded in 2005 as a private company by Rahul Bhatia of InterGlobe Enterprises and Rakesh Gangwal, a
United States–based expatriate Indian.[18] InterGlobe had a 51.12% stake in IndiGo, while 47.88% was held by
Gangwal's Virginia-based company, Caelum Investments.[19][20] IndiGo placed a firm order for 100 Airbus A320-
200 aircraft in June 2005 with plans to begin operations in mid-2006.[21] The airline took delivery of its first aircraft on 28
July 2006, nearly a year after placing the initial order.[22] It commenced operations on 4 August 2006 with a service
from New Delhi to Imphal via Guwahati.[23] By the end of 2006, the airline had six aircraft, and nine more were acquired
in 2007.[23]

In April 2007, IndiGo had crossed the 1 million-passenger mark.[24]

In April 2009, IndiGo crossed the 10 million-passenger mark and received delivery of its 25th aircraft. [24]

In December 2010, IndiGo replaced the then state-run carrier Air India, as the third largest airline in India,
behind Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways with a passenger market share of 17.3%.[25]

In 2011, IndiGo placed an order for 180 Airbus A320 aircraft in a deal worth US$15 billion.[26] In January 2011, after
completing five years of operations, the airline was permitted to launch international flights.[27] Also, in terms of market
share, the company became the largest domestic carrier in India in this month.[24] In December 2011,
the DGCA expressed reservations that the rapid expansion could impact passenger safety.[28]

In February 2012, IndiGo took delivery of its 50th aircraft, less than six years after it began operations. [29] For the
quarter ending March 2012, IndiGo was the most profitable airline in India and became the second largest airline in
India in terms of passenger market share.[30] On 17 August 2012, IndiGo became the largest airline in India in terms of
market share surpassing Jet Airways, six years after commencing operations.[31] In December 2012, IndiGo crossed the
50 million-passenger mark.[24]

In January 2013, IndiGo was the second fastest-growing low-cost carrier in Asia behind Indonesian airline Lion Air.[32] In
February 2013, following the announcement of the Civil Aviation Ministry that it would allow IndiGo to take delivery of
only five aircraft that year, the airline planned to introduce low-cost regional flights by setting up a subsidiary. Later,
IndiGo announced that it planned to seek permission from the ministry to acquire four more aircraft, therefore taking
delivery of nine aircraft in 2013.[33] It took delivery of its 75th aircraft this month.[24] By March 2014, IndiGo was the
second-largest low-cost carrier in Asia in terms of seats flown.[34]
In November 2014, IndiGo received its 100th aircraft. This completed IndiGo's initial 100-aircraft order, placed in 2005.
[35]

In March 2015, the carrier crossed the 100 million-passenger mark. In August 2015, IndiGo placed an order for
250 Airbus A320neo aircraft worth $27 billion, making it the largest single order in Airbus history.[36] It announced
a ₹3,018 crore (equivalent to ₹36 billion or US$420 million in 2023) initial public offering on 19 October 2015 which
opened on 27 October 2015.[37][38][39]

In October 2017, IndiGo announced its plan to strengthen its regional operations with flight connections including
routes to and from Tirupati, Rajahmundry, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mangalore, Madurai and Nagpur. 90 new
flight connections were announced.[24] On November 2017, IndiGo took delivery of its first ATR 72-600.[40] In December
2017, the commencement of IndiGo's ATR operations in Hyderabad was announced.[24]

In October 2019, IndiGo placed an order for 300 Airbus A320neo aircraft worth ₹2.3 lakh crore (US$27 billion),
surpassing its own record of the largest single order in Airbus history.[41][42] In December 2019, the airline became the
first Indian airline to operate 1,500 daily flights.[43] On 31 December 2019, it became India's first airline to have a fleet of
more than 250 aircraft.[44]

In 2020, 10 new domestic and 8 new international destinations were added.[24] IndiGo's fleet increased to 262 aircraft.
45 net aircraft were added during the year.[24] Over 75 million passengers were carried during the year 2020.[24]

An IndiGo regional ATR 72-600 aircraft

In January 2023, the airline became the first Indian airline to have a fleet of more than 300 aircraft. [45] In February 2023,
the airline inducted its first wide-body aircraft, a wet-leased Boeing 777-300ER, to its fleet.[46] In June 2023, the airline
placed an order for 500 Airbus A320neo family aircraft, the largest aircraft order in commercial aviation history.[47] As of
November 2023, IndiGo had a 61.8% domestic market share.[48] In December 2023, IndiGo became the first Indian
airline to have carried over 100 million passengers in a calendar year.[49]

In April 2024, it formally entered the wide-body space by placing an order of 30 A350-900s, with 70 options for $5
billion.[50] The delivery of these aircraft will commence in 2027.[51] On 14 November 2024, the airline's first A321neo
with IndiGo's new business class product, IndiGoStretch,[52] entered service.[53]

Corporate affairs
 IndiGo's primary livery consists of an indigo and sky blue livery as seen on

an Airbus A320 aircraft IndiGo aircraft with secondary colour scheme on

an Airbus A320

IndiGo is headquartered in Gurgaon, India.[54] The company is publicly listed under the moniker NSE: INDIGO.[55]

Logo and livery

Twenty dots arranged in the shape of an aircraft serve as the airline's logo.[56] The airline's primary livery is an indigo
and sky blue colour scheme which uses an indigo paint job that starts from the underbody fuselage and continues till
the end of the tail section, along with sky blue accents around the fuselage and on the tail.
[57]
The winglets and engines of the aircraft are indigo in colour with the airline's website link, "goIndiGo.in", written on
the engines in white in the same font as the IndiGo badging.[57][58] The IndiGo badging is written in the same indigo
colour on both sides of the fuselage and the tail.[57][58] The airline uses a secondary two-tone blue livery on a white
background with the belly of the aircraft painted in indigo with the logo in white. [59]

Flight attendants

The flight attendants wear a single-piece navy-blue tunic with a cap and a thin indigo belt.[60]

Financials and operations

IndiGo became one of the fastest growing low-cost carriers in the world and the largest airline in India. [32] Its success has
been attributed to its unique business model which reduces costs.[30] The airline operates a single type of aircraft, the
Airbus A320 family, in similar seating configuration which simplifies crew training and maintenance. [30] The airline strikes
bulk deals with Airbus, reducing unit costs.[30] The airline targets a quick, 20-minute turn-around time to prepare the
aircraft for the next flight, ensuring planes fly about 12 hours per day.[61] Employees share multiple roles with a check-in
staff doubling as baggage handlers.[61] In July 2023, Indian aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil
Aviation imposed a ₹30 lakh (US$35,000) fine on IndiGo for certain systemic deficiencies concerning documentation
pertaining to operations, training, and engineering procedures.[62] Also, in March 2025, the Income Tax
department imposed a penalty of ₹944.20 crore (US$110 million) on InterGlobe Aviation, IndiGo's parent company, for
the assessment year 2021-22.[63]