IndiGo allowed to import 28 Airbus A320 aircraft in 2013-14

IndiGo, India's biggest airline by local market share, said it had been allowed by the country's civil aviation ministry to import 28 Airbus A320 aircraft in 2013 and 2014.

Unlisted IndiGo placed orders for aircraft worth over $15 billion with Airbus.

In January 2011, the carrier, much to the surprise of industry watchers had placed $16 million worth aircraft orders for deliveries between 2016-2025, which was the single largest order ever in terms of number of aircraft by an airline globally.

Delivery would begin after the 100 Airbus planes worth $ 6 billion ordered by IndiGo in 2005, joined its fleet by 2015.

IndiGo had placed firm orders for 180 aircraft, of these 150 would be A320 NEO version, fuel-efficient type while, the remaining 30 will be the standard A320s. The Indian budget carrier was one of the first customers of the NEO version of A320s, which would likely roll out from 2016.

"The additional aircraft will enable IndiGo to take its low fare and hassle-free service to more customers and enable stronger connectivity within India and abroad," the airline said in a statement.

Currently, IndiGo enjoys the largest domestic market share at 29.8 percent as of April 2013.

With its fleet of 66 Airbus A 320 aircraft, the carrier provides 422 flights connecting 33 destinations.

The low cost passenger carrier which is an expansion mode, recently announced launch of seven new flights on its domestic network from 30 May. These include direct flights between Mumbai-Jammu, Chennai-Kochi, Mumbai-Srinagar, Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai-Thiruvananthapuram, Jammu-Srinagar and Mumbai-Kochi.

The carrier has announced it would commence Mumbai-Muscat service with daily direct flights from 15 June.