India’s Indigo Airlines launches international flights

India’s youngest low-cost carrier, IndiGo, is launching its international daily flights connecting Delhi to Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok from September, Business Standard reports.

Announcing its international foray on Tuesday, the company said the first international flight will start on September 1, connecting Delhi to Dubai, followed by flights to Bangkok on September 8 and Singapore on September 15. Daily flights to Bangkok and Dubai from Mumbai will start from October 2, according to the paper. 

The Hindustan Times' Mint newspaper quoted IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh as saying that the company–now the country’s third largest carrier by passengers with 240 aircraft on order — will offer 25,000 tickets at Rs.9,999 (about $200) each for flights to Singapore, Bangkok and Dubai in a bid to woo passengers. Normal fares run at least 50 percent higher than that amount, but it's not unusual for tickets to cost Rs. 20,000 to 30,000 for peak season, short-notice purchases.

Indigo's entry may cause fares to crash 20-25% Mint quoted Keyur Joshi, co-founder and chief operating officer of travel portal MakeMyTrip, as saying. “This will realign the market. AirAsia, Air Arabia were having a free run. It’s good they have some competition. Today, it is Delhi and Mumbai, tomorrow they would put more flights from Bangalore, Chennai.”

For more about how Indigo redefined the term low-cost carrier to become India's third-largest airline, check out my earlier story on the company here.