Rahul Bhatia, the genius behind the launch of Indigo, has set an example for all the budding entrepreneurs in the world with his impeccable business acumen and brilliant leadership skills. The man needs no introduction now. With a simple philosophy of offering affordable rates, on-time flights, and a hassle-free travel experience, Indigo became one of the fastest-growing economic carriers in the world. With a fleet of more than 300 aircraft, the airline operates over 1,700 flights every day, connecting 77 domestic and 26 international destinations.
Want to know more about Indigo’s success story? Let’s delve into the journey of its founder Rahul Bhatia and understand how he managed to launch this company.
Early Days
Born in 1960 in Nainital, Rahul Bhatia completed his graduation from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. After receiving his degree, Rahul decided to return to his homeland and start his own telecom venture with Nortel. However, the Indian government was not in the favour of adopting foreign technology back then and so, Rahul’s dream venture didn’t see the daylight.
Let’s just say travel was never the first career choice for him but destiny had some other plans for Rahul Bhatia. During that time, Rahul’s father, Kapil Bhatia, used to run an airline business named Delhi Express, which he had co-founded along with nine partners in 1964.
Even though Rahul was more inclined towards a teaching career, he had to reconsider his decision when his ailing father asked for his help with their family business. Emotionally driven, Rahul joined his family business in 1988 and soon he found out that some of their partners had managed to gain a majority stake in the company by secretly buying more equity. He realized that he had to take the plunge into the business with full steam so he started over everything with a seed capital of whopping $37,000.
When Rahul started InterGlobe, all he had with him was a degree along with a two-year professional career stint at IBM. But the man has nerves of steel and he took the company to the next level in no time by including a range of travel and hotel ventures.
InterGlobe Enterprises is now known as a privately held firm that operates transport companies, a hotel chain in partnership with AccorHotels, and three restaurants in Gurugram and Haryana, in addition to the airline.
The Emergence Of Indigo Empire
Rahul Bhatia met Rakesh Gangwal, an experienced airline executive, in the United States, and their blooming connection created the framework for Bhatia’s next business – IndiGo Airlines. Initially, Gangwal was doubtful about the launch of this new venture and Bhatia had to wait until Gangwal decided to cooperate with him. Once he was convinced, they together applied for the airline license in 2004.
Later, IndiGo placed an order for 100 Airbus A320-200 planes in June 2005, with the first plane arriving on July 28, 2006. Within a few years after its inception, IndiGo not only became the most profitable airline in India but also became the largest airline in India in terms of market share. The airline also surpassed many competitors to become Asia’s second largest and fastest expanding low-cost carrier, trailing only Indonesian airline Lion Air.
Reason Behind The Success Of Indigo
Well, if you take a closer look at the entire journey of Indigo, you will get to know that success did not come easily for Rahul Bhatia. What has truly helped him to reach the pinnacle of success, is his strategies. Rahul entered the Indian airline industry when big giants like Kingfisher airlines, SpiceJet and Jet airways were already bleeding money and the aviation fuel prices were soaring. But he took the bold step to challenge all the established industry players and eventually managed to achieve success.
Moreover, Rahul’s business partner Rakesh Gangwal had approximately 35 years of airline expertise which came in handy for Indigo. Owing to his credible personality in the industry, Airbus was fine to accept his terms and conditions. Additionally, IndiGo also had one more advantage of negotiating a bulk transaction, which helped them cut a lot of costs as well.