India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has met IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi International) halfway on its proposal to wet-lease B777-300ERs from Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Airport). IndiGo had wanted to take three Boeings for a two-year period but Indian regulations only permit a three-month wet lease plus a three-month extension. After initially denying IndiGo's waiver request, the DGCA has now agreed to a one-year wet lease period comprising a six-month lease plus a six-month extension.
While IndiGo wants to operate the wet-leased aircraft on routes between India and Turkey, the DGCA's approval is contingent on the airline starting flights to Europe or the United States. Presently, IndiGo flies as far west as Istanbul Airport and as far east as Guangzhou. The airline has long-stated plans to fly to London Heathrow but so far those plans have amounted to nought.
In a statement provided to ch-aviation following the one-year approval, IndiGo said that it was yet to finalise the lease contracts but wanted to use the B777-300ERs on the Mumbai International - Istanbul route, supplementing existing A320-200N and A321-200N flights between Delhi International and Istanbul.
"We have plans for inducting B777 aircraft on wet/damp lease basis during the current winter schedule," says the statement. IndiGo and Turkish Airlines have a longstanding strategic relationship that includes codesharing and funnelling passengers to and from each other's hub airports. Recently that codeshare arrangement was expanded to include Turkish Airlines operated flights into Switzerland and Portugal.
Meanwhile, the DGCA advises other India-based airlines can expect similar wet lease concessions, taking into account the international markets that the airline wants to or already flies to.
