IndiGo, riding on bullish outlook, to lease wide-body Boeing 777 aircraft for upcoming travel season

To fill the gap in its foreign operations, IndiGo - the largest airline in India - will shortly lease up to four wide-body Boeing 777 aircraft, according to officials. The company has made the decision to wet-lease some aircraft as a stopgap solution to make up for the shortage for its planned foreign operations.

IndiGo has made the decision to wet-lease up to four Boeing 777 aircraft. The forthcoming winter schedule will include Boeing 777-200 LRs and Boeing 777-300 ERs, which will be deployed, particularly on international flights, airline authorities announced on October 12.

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Up to this point, IndiGo has only used narrow-body Airbus aircraft, ATRs and freighters. Wide-body aircraft will now be part of its fleet. The airline currently has more than 275 aircraft and runs more than 1,600 flights every day.

The airline has been looking into a variety of solutions to enable it to continue operations without interruption, a spokesperson for IndiGo stated. It also plans to offer customers effective and affordable travel, especially as the aviation industry continues to experience significant supply chain disruptions on a global scale.

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Airlines, particularly those from India, are striving to increase their fleet and route networks in order to meet the growing demand for travel as the global civil aviation industry steadily makes a comeback from the effects of the pandemic.

"We have received an in-principle approval from the regulators for the same and the induction of these aircraft remains subject to further requisite regulatory approvals. We are committed to exploring every opportunity possible to overcome these capacity challenges and provide our customers with efficient and affordable air travel," the spokesperson said.

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The forthcoming holiday and winter travel seasons, according to IndiGo, will see an increase in demand for international travel. This is reassuring for the industry, and IndiGo maintains its bullish outlook on the potential for significant development in international travel to and from India.

IndiGo announced the beginning of direct flights between Mumbai and Istanbul on October 11 as part of the company's global network expansion. The Indian market is crucial and already makes a significant contribution to some regions of the world, according to a top official of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

(With PTI inputs)