IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi International) is looking to dry-lease about 12 aircraft from the secondary market and wet-lease up to eight airframes to address the grounding of several A320-200N and A321-200NX due to the Pratt & Whitney engine issues, according to a report from Money Control.
The Indian LCC is in talks with multiple leasing companies and carriers to add to its fleet before the summer schedule and is set to be in the final stage of negotiations with Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) for five aircraft and Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) for three. The proposed deal with the Qatari airline was also reported earlier this month, albeit as a damp lease covering five B737-8s.
"We are continuously in the process of evaluating options available. As a policy, we do not comment on speculations and will share any information as and when we have anything to share," IndiGo Airlines told ch-aviation. Qatar Airways and Ryanair were not immediately available for comment.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that IndiGo wet-leases 12 aircraft, including two B777-300ERs from Turkish Airlines, and ten A320-200s from SmartLynx Airlines and SmartLynx Airlines Estonia, with five apiece. The Indian carrier’s fleet comprises 350 in-house planes, including twenty A320-200s, 188 A320-200Ns, three A321-200(P2F)s, ninety-four A321-200NX, and forty-five ATR72-600s. Currently, forty-five A320-200Ns and fifteen A321-200NX are grounded. It does not and never has operated any in-house Boeing aircraft.
If confirmed, it would be the first such ACMI contract for Ryanair, an LCC which does not serve India and has been vocal about not having enough aircraft for its own operations due to Boeing delivery delays. The carrier operates B737-800s and B737-8-200s, except for its Maltese subsidiary, Lauda Europe (LW, Malta International), which operates twenty-eight A320-200s.
