Indian low-cost airline GoAir received a milestone 50th Airbus A320 last Thursday, and has plans to add one A320 a month going forward.
Since November of 2017, the Mumbai based carrier has doubled its fleet of 20 Airbus A320s to 50, following the first deliveries of their new A320neos. Over the course of 2018, GoAir took delivery of 17 A320neo aircraft, but has slowed down the delivery rate having only received four A320neos in 2019.
GoAir doubles its fleet of A320s
Founder, Managing Director and acting Chief Executive of GoAir, Jeh Wadia, said in a statement published by The Hindu Business Line,
“In 2016, we looked at an aggressive business strategy. That year we doubled our Airbus A320 aircraft order to 144 to accelerate our growth and at the same time staying profitable. Those goals continue to be our guiding principle from a business perspective.”
Operating its planes in an all-economy configuration, the budget airline conducts 270 daily flights that include four non-Indian destinations.
GoAir will phase out its older A320s for newer A320neos
According to Live from a Lounge, GoAir was stagnant for many years and lacked a strong management team and a consistent CEO at the helm.
Stuck with a fleet of 20 Airbus A320s, the airline was surviving rather than thriving. That was until it started taking delivery of A320neos. These now outnumber the older A320ceos, which are all planned for retirement as the newer aircraft arrive.
GoAir would like to establish a hub in Phuket
Originally flying to the Thai beach resort of Phuket, GoAir added a second international route to the Maldives capital Male in 2018 with two weekly flights from Delhi and three from Mumbai.
At the same time as GoAir was expanding into the Maldives, rival and larger low-cost carrier IndiGo started offing flights on the same routes. Now with a price war waging between the bigger IndiGo and GoAir, GoAir knew that it could not compete with one of India’s biggest airlines and threw in the towel.
Today GoAir only flies internationally to Phuket from Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru and from Kannur International Airport in the Indian state of Kerala to Abu Dhabi and Muscat in Oman. As far as the future is concerned GoAir would like to establish a hub in Phuket and offer flights to ten cities in India.
Currently, GoAir is a part of the Wadia Group, one of the oldest conglomerates in India with a history going back to 1736. As a partner with the British East India Company, the Wadia Group built ships and dry docks the most famous of which was the HMS Minden. Built entirely out of teak the HMS Minden was a Royal Navy 74-gun Ganges-class third-rate ship of the line.
During the British American War of 1812, HMS Minden took part in the Battle of Baltimore and it was from the ship’s deck, Francis Scott Key penned the “Star Spangled Banner.” Today the Wadia Group is one biggest companies in India with four of its many interests listed on the Indian Stock Exchange.