By Staff Correspondent
IndiGo’s request for wet-leasing a wide-body Boeing aircraft from Turkish Airlines for up to six months has been authorised by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). However, the Aviation regulator rejected the local carrier’s request to lease the aircraft for two years.
The largest customer of Airbus narrowbody aircraft globally, IndiGo, has been sketching a new way for itself with wide-body aircraft coming to its rescue. IndiGo has chosen to lease wide-body aircraft to expand its international flight schedule to satisfy growing demand since the company solely operates a fleet of narrowbody aircraft.
For a long period, the request of the country’s largest airline for wet leasing the aircraft was turned down by the DGCA, citing that the step could become a diversion of traffic rights in collusion with a strong foreign carrier which might primarily feed the latter’s hub abroad with a higher number of passengers from India.
The move of leasing wide-body aircraft was considered due to the slowdown of deliveries of new planes and the supply issues of CFM engines and Pratt & Whitney that was causing a large number of Go First and IndiGo Airbus A320 aircraft to be grounded.
IndiGo has a fleet of 275 aircraft and flies to around 26 international destinations. It also stands as the nation’s largest domestic airline, with a market share of 57.7 percent as of September.
The government is also looking at mega aviation hubs in India and encouraging domestic airlines to acquire wide-body planes in their fleets.
