IndiGo is bringing a premium cabin to its fleet. Dubbed IndiGo Stretch, the new offering is set to take flight from mid-November, featuring more space, upgraded catering, and other amenities.
With India’s soaring economy and the evolving aspirations of the Indian society, we believe it’s time for IndiGo to redefine business class in India, increasing availability of this service for the nation.
– Pieter Elbers, IndiGo CEO
The airline is the latest in a global push by low cost carriers to capture premium yields. As with the others, it does so against a shifting competitive landscape, including the merger of Vistara and Air India, as well as IndiGo’s plan to expand into long-haul services with its own A350s later this decade.
IndiGo Stretch features a 2-2 cabin layout, with Recaro‘s R5 seat as the centerpiece. The carrier touts 21.3″ seat width and 38″ pitch for the three rows of seats being installed in the new premium cabin.
As with other Recaro installations, IndiGo will also feature a six-way adjustable headrest for its Stretch seats, an electronic device holder, a 60-watt USB-Type C power supply, and a three-pin universal power outlet. The IndiGo version includes privacy wings on the headrest.
Read more: IndiGo taps AirFi for on-board entertainment trial
Passengers purchasing the Stretch seats will also receive a specially curated vegetarian meal box during the flight and advance seat selection at no additional charge. Priority check-in and boarding are also part of the package.
With the larger seats and increased legroom the Stretch-configured A321neo planes will drop to 208 seats on board. This includes keeping the XL extra legroom option at the exit rows.
Adding a premium product is a notable departure from IndiGo’s 18-year history of operating a single-cabin design. But it is also a limited deployment. The first aircraft will be fitted for the operational launch in November, flying between Delhi and Mumbai.
In total, the airline expects 45 shipsets to be delivered by Recaro in the year ahead. That represents just over 10% of the airline’s fleet today.
IndiGo will operate that sub-fleet of premium-configured planes on a subset of its routes. The carrier expects to serve a dozen point-to-point markets between major business markets within the country by the end of 2025.
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