IndiGo to operate wide body planes for first time ever in next few months

India's largest airline IndiGo will operate wide body planes for the first time ever in the next few months, sources said on Tuesday.

The airline's current fleet comprises 280-odd narrow body aircraft, with only economy class in them. It is in process of wet leasing a few wide body aircraft, which will have business class as well as economy class, from an international carrier, sources mentioned.

Wet leasing means the plane's crew, along with the aircraft itself, is leased from the lessor. A wide body plane like B777 has a bigger fuel tank than narrow body aircraft like A320, which allows the former to traverse longer distances.

IndiGo on Tuesday evening announced that it will start operating flights on Mumbai-Istanbul route from January 1 onwards. The airline is already operating flights on Delhi-Istanbul routes using its narrow body planes.

Sources said that the wide-body planes, which are going to be wet leased, are likely to be used primarily on India-Istanbul routes.

In a statement, IndiGo confirmed that it is wet leasing certain planes.

"International air travel is going through a strong period of recovery, and demand continues to rise in the upcoming festive and winter season. This is a positive sign for the industry and IndiGo remains very bullish on strong growth for international travel to and from India in the future," it mentioned.

However, as the aviation industry globally continues to face significant supply chain disruptions, the airline has been exploring a multitude of solutions to enable us to continue its operations smoothly and to provide its customers with efficient and affordable travel, it added.

"As an interim measure, we have decided to take on wet/ damp lease certain aircraft to cover the shortfall for our scheduled international operations. We have received an in-principle approval from the regulators for the same and the induction of these aircrafts remains subject to further requisite regulatory approvals," it mentioned. 

The airline is committed to exploring every opportunity possible to overcome these capacity challenges and provide its customers with efficient and affordable air travel, it stated.

Air India had last month announced that it is going to increase its fleet size from 113 to 143 planes by December 2023 by leasing five wide body planes and 25 narrow body planes.

IndiGo already has approximately 60 per cent share in the domestic market. Therefore, the airline is looking to international avenues to sustain its growth momentum.