GoAir seeks advance delivery of aircraft orders
30 Aug 2010
New Delhi: An upbeat outlook, with air travel perking up domestically, is prompting budget carrier GoAirlines (India) Pvt Ltd to ask aircraft manufacturer Airbus to advance delivery of 10 aircraft by a year. The carrier, which operates under the brand GoAir, says it hopes to expand quicker if deliveries are made earlier.
Addressing a news conference GoAir chief executive Kaushik Khona said, "I can improve my operations and bottom line."
GoAir had ordered 20 Airbus aircraft in 2007 for $1.2 billion and has taken delivery of about ten of these. Now it is in talks with Airbus to advance delivery of the remaining aircraft to March 2013 from the earlier planned April 2014. Khona said the carrier was hopeful it would get early deliveries.
Khona said that prospects of growth in the Indian air travel market was good and said the domestic market was likely to get a further boost soon with the Commonwealth Games due to take place in New Delhi in October and the festival season starting around the same time.
"We will achieve a complete breakeven by one-and-a-half years from now," Khona said. "We are improving aircraft utilization, costs are in control."
He said GoAir was yet to make up its mind on an initial public offering.
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