Hoping to start Kolkata-Hanoi flights from Oct 3: IndiGo CCO

Calling Vietnam as “one of the most promising destinations”, IndiGo Chief Commercial Officer William Boulter Wednesday said the airline is hoping to start operating flights on the Kolkata-Hanoi route from October 3. “For us it (Vietnam) is one of the undiscovered markets... Vietnam is certainly one of the most promising destinations that we have identified,” Boulter said. “We are hoping to start services between Kolkata and Hanoi on October 3, followed quickly by services to Ho Chi Minh city,” he said in the presence of Vietnamese Ambassador to India Pham Sanh Chau at an event here.

Boulter added that these flights are subject to government approvals and the airline is in the last stages of getting them.

“We expect to get those (approvals) to be done in next couple of weeks. And then, we would be able to put the flights open for sale,” he said.

Boulter said that whenever he travels to Bangkok, he finds it quite surprising to see the number of passengers that are heading from India to Vietnam with Bangkok as a stop in between.

“For us at IndiGo, it (India-Vietnam) was an obvious route to add as we begin more and more into international (operations),” he said.

He said that at present, IndiGo has deployed around 20 per cent of its current capacity on international routes.

“We look forward to growing further this year,” he added.

According to data released by Indian aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday, IndiGo has a 49 per cent share in the domestic passenger market currently.