Mumbai : GoAir, the ‘fly smart’ low-fare domestic airline today announced that it has placed an order for additional 72 aircraft worth Rs 32,400 crore or US$ 7.2 billion.

GoAir’s total order with Airbus is now 92 aircraft worth Rs 43,200 crore or US$ 9.6 billion. The airline previously placed an order of 20 Airbus A320s.

Go Air currently operates 10 aircraft with an average age of 2 years which makes it the youngest fleet in India.

The company will take delivery of its additional aircraft from its previous order over the next 24 months.

Announcing the strategic initiative at a press conference, Mr. Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, GoAir said: “As part of our Vision 2020, we have placed an order for additional 72 A320 NEO aircraft with Airbus. These aircraft will give us a further competitive advantage of up to 15% on efficiency, primarily gained from a much improved fuel burn.”

Mr. Wadia also said that: “We are very committed to reduce Carbon emissions through comprehensive programs of reinvestment in equipment and technological innovation and partnerships. In line with this commitment this order with Airbus will ensure we continuously reduce greenhouse gas (GHG). Some of the other initiatives we have taken on in the past is to minimize our ground speeds and wash our engines frequently which increase the engine efficiency apart from saving fuel.”

The placement of an additional 72 aircraft is a game-changer for GoAir and the Indian aviation sector. “In terms of aircraft, we see tremendous potential in India which has barely six airlines with 350 aircraft catering to a billion people, compared to China’s present 1100 aircraft. Incidentally, with all the present orders placed by Indian carriers we would only reach 1100 aircraft by 2020. One domestic airline in America, SouthWest, already has close to 700 aircraft. In terms of seats flown, one airline in Europe, Ryan Air sold approx. 65 million seats last year while the whole of Indian aviation sold just 54 million seats*. With India’s GDP growing at a brisk 8-9% per annum, we see a great future ahead for the aviation sector, including GoAir. Our strategy is to fly those who currently don’t fly,” Mr. Wadia added.

GoAir today also announced the appointment of Mr. Giorgio De Roni as its Chief Executive Officer. Commenting on the new appointment, Mr. Wadia said: “On behalf of the Board members of GoAir, I welcome Mr. Giorgio De Roni to the GoAir family. Giorgio brings deep and rich experience spanning 25 years in the aviation industry. In his last job, he was instrumental in increasing passenger traffic from 1 to 8 million, increasing market share from 6% to over 30% and thereby delivering substantial profits to the US$1 billion Italian private airline Air One. We feel he is the right person to further build and weave together a world class management team to take the company to the next level of its growth trajectory.”

Mr. Giorgio De Roni said: “I am delighted to be part of GoAir, the most profitable, most revered and best managed airline in India. It will be my endeavor to expand the operations profitably and continue to provide miles and smiles to our customers. With the delivery of new aircraft to take place soon, the brand proposition ‘fly smart’ will get a whole new dimension.”

“Our aircraft utilization is best-in-category, giving us operational edge over others. GoAir recently received Best Performing Airline award in the Airbus A320 category operator in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa region. The award is presented every two year by Airbus based on both fleet utilization and performance achievements in each region and worldwide and for two categories of fleet size. Their metrics take into account On-time performance as well as severity of the operational interruptions (based on the Airbus Severity Index calculation),” he added.

GoAir currently operates across 18 destinations 133 daily flights and approximately 931 weekly flights. The destinations include Ahmedabad, Bagdogra, Bengalooru, Chandigarh, Cochin, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Jaipur, Jammu, Leh, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nanded, Patna, Pune and Srinagar.