KLM veteran Elbers to lead India's biggest airline IndiGo

IndiGo, India’s biggest airline, has appointed KLM veteran Pieter Elbers as its new CEO, as airlines return to profit and chart out growth plans amid a rebound in air travel post-pandemic. IndiGo's current CEO Ronojoy Dutta will retire at the end of September and Elbers' appointment is expected to be effective from Oct. 1, the company said here on Wednesday. “Given Mr. Elbers’ deep understanding of the business, his legendary leadership qualities coupled with his energy and passion, we are ever so confident that under his stewardship, IndiGo will play a pivotal role in this growth opportunity,” the airline’s managing director Rahul Bhatia said. Elbers is currently the chief executive of KLM, the Dutch arm of Air France-KLM, where he started his career in 1992. India has seen a strong rebound in domestic air travel and with the government easing COVID restrictions, international travel - where profits are higher - is also on the rise. IndiGo turned a profit during the Oct-Dec quarter after two years of losses and had previously expressed ambitions to expand to places like Moscow, Cairo and Manila with non-stop flights using its narrowbody fleet of Airbus SE planes. However, the airline has recently seen a churn of top executives.<br/>