IndiGo has firmed up the delivery timetable of its first Airbus A320neos, with plans to take 24 of the type between March 2016 and the end of March 2017.
The airline says in a statement that this is down from the original plan of 26 aircraft, however it has leased seven used A320ceos that will arrive between March and November to plug the shortfall and allow for further growth.
The carrier tells Flightglobal that the seven used A320s are in addition to the 22 additional units the carrier announced on 22 January.
IndiGo had originally planned to take delivery of its first A320neo in December, but it is understood that issues with Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines saw it miss that target.
IndiGo's president Aditya Ghosh says that the neos will enable it to “structurally reduce our costs as fuel continues to be the single largest element of our cost structure.”
“With the resolution of the delivery of A320neos, IndiGo expects to continue with its strong operating performance, growth in profitability and healthy cash generation,” he adds.
Including the A320neo deliveries, IndiGo expects to add 13 aircraft in the quarter ending 31 March , following by a year-on-year increases of 11, 21, 27 and 24 over consecutive quarters.
Flightglobal Fleets Analyzer shows that the airline operates operating a fleet of 101 A320ceos, with 430 neo variants on order.
The carrier also announced that, for the quarter ending 31 March, it expects to grow capacity by around 19%, with revenue set to increase by 6-8%.
Gross margins are expected to be maintained at similar levels to previous years around 35-37% at the similar to the previous year’s levels. Despite that, net profit will be impacted by unfavourable currency movements.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
