IndiGo plans to launch turbo-prop operations at the end of calendar 2017 and expects to induct up to 20 ATR aircraft by December 2018.
The new aircraft will be used to launch flights under the government’s regional air connectivity scheme, UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik). IndiGo currently only operates Airbus A-320 aircraft.
In a statement to the BSE, the airline said it had signed a term sheet with French-Italian aircraft maker ATR for purchase of 50 ATR 72-600s, with the flexibility to reduce the number of aircraft based on certain terms.
A term sheet means that the airline has now identified the aircraft that it plans to buy.
IndiGo and ATR will firm up issues such as final delivery dates and the number of seats that the airline wants in the aircraft.
Indigo President and CEO Aditya Ghosh said that while the turbo-prop operations will be a part of IndiGo, a separate division will have the complete responsibility to run them, including autonomous operating functions, which will not overlap with existing narrow-body operations.
Meanwhile, IndiGo reported a Profit After Tax of ₹1,659.18 crore for fiscal year 2017, a decrease of 16.5 per cent from the PAT of ₹1,986.16 crore reported a year earlier.
The airline’s board of directors recommended a dividend of ₹34 per share.
Q4 net down 25% at Rs 440 cr
For the fourth quarter ended March 2017, the airline reported a profit after tax of 440.3 crore, a decrease of 24.6 per cent compared to the Rs 583.78 crore reported in the same quarter during the previous year.