IndiGo denies it’s looking to buy Virgin Australia

Indigo has denied that it was seeking to acquire Virgin Australia. The Australian Financial Review reported Monday that it was putting together a proposal to bid for bankrupt airline.

IndiGo hasn’t formulated any such proposal and neither does it have any “interest in this matter,” the airline said in a release late on Monday.

India’s biggest airline is “in the Virgin Australia data room and seeking to put together an indicative proposal for administrator Deloitte,” the publication had said, citing sources.

Other reports suggested that IndiGo cofounder Rahul Bhatia’s Interglobe Enterprises is eyeing the carrier. A spokesperson for Interglobe Enterprises declined to comment.
The news came as a surprise as all carriers, IndiGo included, and travel companies in general, are grappling with the Covid-19 crisis, experts said.

An executive at a rival airline said the development would be a “bizarre distraction which would compromise their war chest in times of Covid.” One possibility could be that IndiGo “does not know now where to deploy their hundreds of A320s on order and they are looking at Australia as a possibility if they can replace Virgin,” he said in comments made before IndiGo issued its statement.

Virgin Australia went into administration last month and reportedly owes more than $7 billion.

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