IndiGo

IndiGo was founded in January 2006 by Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal — two Indian entrepreneurs with aviation backgrounds — and launched commercial service on August 4, 2006 from Delhi to Imphal. From the outset, IndiGo's model was explicit: the lowest possible fares, the highest possible on-time performance, and no frills. The airline grew at an extraordinary rate, becoming India's largest domestic airline in just six years — overtaking Jet Airways, Kingfisher, and Air India in rapid succession. IndiGo went public on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange in November 2015, with its IPO valued at approximately ₹3,015 crore.

The offering was oversubscribed 18.8 times. IndiGo's rise coincided with India's dramatic economic expansion and the emergence of a massive aspiring middle class for whom air travel was becoming an attainable aspiration. In January 2023, IndiGo became the first Indian airline to have a fleet of more than 300 aircraft. In December 2023, it became the first Indian airline ever to carry over 100 million passengers in a single calendar year.

The June 2023 order for 500 A320neo family aircraft was reported as the largest single aircraft order in commercial aviation history at the time of announcement. CEO Pieter Elbers — a Dutch aviation veteran who had led KLM — joined IndiGo in March 2023, bringing international management expertise and ambitions to transform IndiGo from a domestic LCC into a global aviation player.