IndiGo’s First Plane With Business Class Is Ready - India Report

05.11.2024 - 04:59 / skift.com / Pieter Elbers / Bulbul Dhawan

Budget carrier IndiGo’s first aircraft with the business class configuration has been unveiled. The plane will fly on the Delhi-Mumbai route starting November 14. The new aircraft sports the words “IndiGo means Business” on its body. The company has named its business class program “IndiGoStretch.” 

This is the first time that IndiGo will have non-economy seats in its planes. In a statement, CEO Pieter Elbers said, “India’s economy is soaring and with the evolving aspirations of the Indian society, it is time for us to redefine accordingly.”

Even as IndiGo is moving away from its no-frills approach, the business class offering is meant to be faithful to the IndiGo brand, Elbers previously told Skift’s Peden Doma Bhutia.

“We now have a whole generation coming up that has never flown business class. Similarly, years ago there was a whole generation in India, that’d never taken a plane, who then became our first-time fliers,” Elbers had said.

This becomes clearer through IndiGo’s pricing for the product. The cost for a business class ticket on IndiGo on November 16 is INR 18,018 ($214.15). On the other hand, Air India’s business class ticket for Delhi-Mumbai flight on the same day is priced at INR 26,967 ($320.50). 

At the unveiling of the IndiGoStretch plane, Elbers said that by January next year, all Delhi-Mumbai aircraft will have the business class configuration. The airline is also planning to cover all flights from Delhi to Bengaluru and Chennai under this program. “In the next 14 months, 45 IndiGoStretch planes will be inducted in our fleet and we will ramp up to serve 12 routes with 268 daily flights,” he said.

Stretch, daily non-stop. Our brand-new, and shiny, #IndiGoStretch aircraft arrives in India. #goIndiGo #IndiaByIndiGo pic.twitter.com/sdN4cd5tSJ

Hotel owner and developer Brigade Hotel Ventures has filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with Indian stock market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). In its DRHP, the company has said that it aims to raise up to INR 9 billion ($107 million) through an IPO. 

It might also raise up to INR 1.8 billion ($21 million) through a pre-IPO placement. Brigade Hotel said it plans to use a significant portion of its IPO proceeds — INR 4.8 billion (about $57 million) — to repay a substantial chunk of its existing debt. Brigade Hotel also has plans to restructure its finances across fiscal 2025 and 2026. 

The rest of its IPO proceedings will be used for the company’s expansion plans, including the development of five new hotels in high-growth regions across India. The company aims to broaden its footprint by focusing on prime markets in South India and tapping into emerging opportunities in tourism hotspots like Goa and popular