On September 29, IndiGo, a no-frills carrier, announced the arrival of its first freighter aircraft, a converted passenger plane. With a fleet of over 275 aircraft and over 1,600 daily flights to and from 74 domestic locations, the airline is already a market leader in the domestic passenger segment in the country. Furthermore, as part of its worldwide operations, it serves 26 international markets.
IndiGo stated that the addition of A321, P2F (passenger to freighter) aircraft will enable the airline to provide cargo services on both domestic and international routes. According to the airline, the aircraft will be able to service markets between China in the east and the Gulf in the west, as well as the CIS countries in the north. IndiGo also stated that for the cargo plane, it will use the same pool of pilots and engineers that fly and service its current fleet.
When regular commercial aircraft were grounded, the cargo service brought in revenue. “Our relationship with Airbus for the freighter programme will help us develop our business in the cargo segment even more,” said Mahesh Malik, Chief Commercial Officer – CarGo, IndiGo. The freighter aircraft has 24 container locations and a cargo capacity of up to 27 tonnes.
According to the airline, the conversion of full passenger jets into cargo planes is being carried out as part of a programme between ST Engineering and Airbus through their joint venture, Elbe FlugzeugWerke (EFW).
