IndiGo, the upstart budget carrier that has become India’s biggest airline, is taking a close look at Virgin Australia, which entered bankruptcy administration last month under pressure of both the pandemic and years of grueling competition with Qantas.
It would be an interesting move for IndiGo, which fought its way to the top of a very competitive market, with several carriers being squeezed out of the market in the past couple of years. According to Bloomberg News, Rahul Bhatia, IndiGo’s largest shareholder, is taking a serious look at making a bid.
But it may not happen; the Australian situation is quite different from that in India. Qantas has for years successfully kept a dominant position in the industry with competitors falling by the wayside. David Fickling of the Sydney Morning Herald, has suggested that it might not be a good move because of that; he speculates that only the deep pockets of a number of airlines and of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group was able to keep Virgin in the air this long.
