Indigo, India’s largest domestic carrier by marketshare, has always worked on a sort of a standardized model where they have had the same kind of plane going to all their destinations, a 180Y configuration Airbus 320. This worked for them as economies of scale set in. Placing the big orders they do, it allows them to reduce the order price substantially as compared to the list prices.

As per the company, the airline expects to have a fleet of 170 A320 aircraft at the end of financial year 2018 (next March) including 47 A320NEOs.

With the government of India giving substantial incentive to regional flights around India, Indigo has changed tack. Indigo will now play in the regional market as well, having ordered 50 ATR 72-600 planes this fiscal. As per the financial results announced a while ago today,

Signed term sheet with ATR for purchase of 50 ATR 72-600s with flexibility to reduce the
number of aircraft deliveries based on certain conditions
– Turboprop operations expected to commence by the end of calendar 2017
– Expected to induct 20 ATR aircraft by December 2018

Assuming Final Agreement with ATR, expect to have up to 7 ATR-72-600 aircraft by March 2018.

In line with the size of Indigo plane orders, this would be a big one. If this goes through, Indigo would have placed the biggest order for ATR planes in a decade.

This would be a gamechanger I’d like to believe. Why? Because Indigo would be perhaps the first scale player. SpiceJet is already getting some benefit out of it, so is Jet Airways and Air India, but this would be a larger scale implementation than any of them, and by an airline with the disciplined pedigree of Indigo.