IndiGo, the country’s largest carrier, which offered low-cost all-economy seats so far, has announced the launch of ‘IndiGo Stretch’ business class on 12 domestic routes in mid-November.

The seats will be open for booking from Tuesday, the airline’s CEO Pieter Elbers said on Monday at an event to mark the airline’s 18 years of operations. The operations will first start on the Delhi-Mumbai route.

Elbers also announced the launch of flights to seven more international destinations in the current financial year, taking their total to 40. At present, the airline flies to around 120 destinations, including 33 overseas cities and operates more than 2,000 flights daily.

The airline, which started in 2006 with 100 aircraft in the pipeline, now has a fleet of over 380 aircraft and expects to receive more than 970 aircraft over the next decade.

There will be a total of 12 seats in the configuration of four seats in three rows in the A321 neo planes. These aircraft will have a total of 220 seats — 12 business and 208 economy class, according to an official.

The official added that the seats will be introduced in
select flights from November 14.

The introductory one-way fare for a business class seat will start at ₹18,018. Elbers said the business class seats will be available on the busiest and the business routes.

Elbers said, “It’s going to be a real good business class.” The meals for the premium business class will be catered by Oberoi Hotels.

The business class foray marks a departure in strategy from an all-economy service for the no-frills carrier and represents a sign of growing demand for premium services in the country.

The airline, which is focused on cost leadership, will also be launching the customer loyalty programme ‘IndiGo BluChip’ which will go live in September.