Generally, flights having a duration of up to 3 hours are short-haul ones and those with a duration of 3-8 hours are considered as medium-haul flights
PTI Published 12.10.26, 08:39 PM
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IndiGo expects to have 9-10 A321 XLR planes in its fleet by the end of March 2027 and these aircraft will be deployed on medium-haul routes, a senior executive said on Monday.
"The real piece is that the India market is probably maturing, which means there is a bigger appetite for a more premiumised offering... that is reflected in IndiGo's fleet network product as we move towards a greater share of having more business class seats on the domestic product (and) also on the short haul international (routes)...," the airline's Chief Strategy Officer Aloke Singh said.
IndiGo has a fleet of more than 430 planes, including 4 A321 XLRs.
Indian carriers have a fair presence in the short-haul international market. Singh said addressing a session at a conference organised by engine maker GE Aerospace in Gurugram.
"The market which is a little beyond the one that we are now looking at, which is the medium-haul market... and that will be served by... the (A321) XLRs, which are really made for long-term routes. We have four already in the fleet. We should get to about nine or ten by the end of the financial year," he said.
Noting that A321 XLRs will help unlock the new market segment, he said IndiGo's experience in the past has been that whenever there are services to unserved destinations with a non-stop high frequency product, it actually stimulates the market to grow.
Generally, flights having a duration of up to 3 hours are short-haul ones and those with a duration of 3-8 hours are considered as medium-haul flights.
Elaborating on the growth of aviation in India, Singh said the real India story is coming from the smaller Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns.
Indian aviation market's growth trajectory is going to continue for some time and there are not many markets in the world which are both big and growing.
"That is an unprecedented upside that India has".
India's annual domestic passenger traffic stood at 340 million in FY26, and the number is expected to touch 1.1 billion by 2040, according to estimates.
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