In October 2019, IndiGo placed a record-breaking firm order with Airbus for 300 Airbus A320neo aircraft, including the Airbus A321XLR. The carrier opted for 69 of the new long-range variant XLR variant in a deal that would propel its international expansion beyond the Middle East and key neighbors across South and Southeast Asia.
We take a look at the possible destinations, potential network strategy, and the complementary nature of the A321XLR with the Airbus A350. The Indian low-cost giant ordered 30 Airbus A350-900s back in May this year.
Potential routes: Australia, Europe, and East Asia
The Airbus A321XLR will allow IndiGo to tap into several previously unserved markets. This is because of the aircraft’s unique characteristics.
- Lower fuel consumption: compared to previous generation aircraft, Airbus says that the A321XLR offers 30% lower fuel burn per seat. This makes the plane a low-risk, cost-effective alternative to widebodies for routes that are otherwise considered challenging or lack the demand to warrant a costly flight with a larger plane.
- Extended range: the new aircraft can fly routes spanning up to 4,700 nautical miles, allowing for direct flights to Europe and Australia for instance.
- Relatively low capacity: It can be configured with up to 220 seats. The airline has previously revealed it would adopt a two-class configuration for the aircraft, including business class seats.
It is expected that IndiGo will use the plane for flights to Australia, Europe and destinations in East Asia. However, one important consideration is the aircraft’s range. While in theory it can make it all the way from India to the Westernmost point in Europe (Cape Roca, Portugal), this is easier said than done.
Depending on the final specifications of the aircraft, it may not ultimately be able to reach some of these points. Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo, had previously warned that while Delhi to Amsterdam (AMS) could be feasible, service to the Dutch capital from Mumbai (BOM) may go beyond the plane’s real range with seats and additional characteristics all in play.
Looking at specific destinations, Elbers has indicated the following related to the A321XLR:
“XLRs will bring us to parts of Europe, Asia and places like Athens, Seoul, Rome… that will be a wonderful expansion of IndiGo.”
Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo
Air India is currently the largest airline on the India-Europe market by a margin, a position that has been reinforced by its merger with Vistara. The A321XLRs will be deployed on flights that are between 7 and 8 hours long.
That being said, additional details are not clear. Whether the carrier hopes to launch flights from Delhi (DEL) or Mumbai (BOM) or even other Indian airports is still up in the air. It hopes to take delivery of the A321XLR “somewhere in 2025,” the first being based out of DEL while for the rest it remains to be seen according to Live From A Lounge.
Hub considerations and the A350
In April, Elbers underlined the market potential that India has in terms of long-haul flights. In particular, he pointed to secondary cities across India that have the potential for long-haul flights but that has not been exploited as the larger premium carriers (Air India, necessarily) stick to their two-hub strategy in Mumbai and Delhi.
As noted, the new narrowbody is very much low-risk on the long-haul sector, relative to its widebody competition such as the A350 for instance. IndiGo has the potential to leverage the type’s capabilities for services outside the traditional hub-and-spoke model, offering long-haul flights from these secondary cities in India. In a conference call in April, per Livemint, Elbers revealed that it wanted to provide direct flights to distant destinations from cities outside DEL and BOM with both its A350s and A321XLRs. Hyderabad and Bengaluru were both mentioned.
One of the concerns with the A321XLR is its cargo capacity. Because it is significantly smaller than a widebody, the amount of cargo and baggage it will be able to carry will be limited. That might come into play when considering the routes being operated. For example, a route to London is not necessarily best served by an A321XLR but rather an A350.
How IndiGo will balance its long-haul operation between the A350 and A321XLR remains to be seen. One thing is for certain: the carrier’s network will evolve significantly over the next few years.
For what concerns the A321XLRs, there are two main, plausible scenarios:
- They are deployed on flights from Delhi and Mumbai to destinations with less demand than those that would be better served by the higher-capacity A350.
- They are deployed on flights from secondary Indian cities to larger destinations worldwide, including to Australia.
Perhaps, though, we could see a combination of both of these scenarios, with a handful of A321XLRs based out of the hub Indian airports, and others elsewhere in India. In December, Elbers said the following in an interview with TheWeek.
“I don’t see why foreign carriers can fly to so many places in India and we remain limited to Delhi and Mumbai. We can do it ourselves. If Singapore Airlines can fly to more than 10 destinations in India, why should we limit ourselves in India to only fly from one destination to Singapore? It is India’s time. It is also our time. That is the strategy we set for ourselves one year ago.”
Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo
Business class
IndiGo’s Airbus A321XLRs will also feature a business class, a product that it only recently introduced on its short-haul network with a service between Delhi and Mumbai, known as IndiGoStretch, which took flight just a few days ago.
In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Pieter Elbers noted that growth in the Indian aviation market has prompted a change in its product offering, particularly on longer flights.
“Next year, we get the Airbus 321 XLR coming in, which will bring us well into Europe, Asia, and from southern India to even Australia. That requires a different product domestically, and that’s why we are launching the business class.”
Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo
He continued, noting growth in the Indian aviation market as a cause for the carrier’s international push.
“India will be the third-largest economy by 2030; it will be stronger, closer, and deeply connected to many other countries. That requires airlines with size and scale that can operate and compete on a global basis. So our benchmark there should be how we are doing on a global level and not only how we are doing on a domestic level. So all the decisions that we have taken over the past two years are part of that ambition and objective of being a global airline player by 2030.”
Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo
The company has been premiumising its product and straying from its initial low-cost base strategy. It has introduced a business class, a loyalty program, ordered widebody planes, and hopes to launch its own long-haul flights in the very near future. Better yet, the airline currently offers leased-777 flights between DEL, BOM, and Istanbul (IST). Since November 15, these have been operated by Airbus A320neo family aircraft as IndiGo negotiates with the Civil Aviation Ministry to extend the lease agreement for the pair of 777 jets.
The importance of diaspora
One indicator of where IndiGo could deploy its A321XLRs is the Indian diaspora. The A321XLR is ideally placed to cater to so-called visiting friends and relatives (VFR) demand.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, these are the countries with the highest Indian diaspora (‘Overseas Indians’) that are within the range of the A321XLR and that are too inefficient/inaccessible for the airline’s current fleet:
- United Kingdom: 1,864,318*
- South Africa: 1,700,000*
- Australia: 976,000
- France (Reunion Island): 300,159
- Germany: 260,864
- Netherlands: 228,787*
- Italy: 206,503
- Philippines: 150,010
- France: 119,000*
- Portugal: 103,682*
*possibly too far away for the A321XLR
Aside from diaspora, the success of the Indian economy has also paved the way for continued growth worldwide. Vinay Malhotra, Head of Global Sales at IndiGo told businessline:
“With increasing income, passport holders and visa-free destinations for Indian travelers, the international market looks promising. We see significant potential in Tier-2 markets for international travel, as these cities are emerging as gateways to global destinations.”
Vinay Malhotra, Head of Global Sales, IndiGo
Plenty to look forward to then, even as IndiGo remains quiet about where it plans to deploy its A321XLRs. Perhaps there’s just too much choice.
Feature Image by Utkarsh Thakkar | Vimanspotter
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