Indigo, the domestic budget airline, which also happens to be the largest domestic air carrier in India, is expanding internationally at a rapid pace. Under its international plans, the airline entered a codeshare agreement with Turkish Airline few years back. Later, the airline started flights on India-Turkey route, connecting Delhi and Istanbul via direct flights. However, the airline initially deployed its Airbus A321 narrow body single aisle plane on the international routes. Some time back, Indigo Airline wet leased a Turkish Airline’s Boeing 777 to deploy on the sector.
However, for a long time, the flight was operated wearing the Turkish Airlines livery, rather than Indigo’s colours. Now, Indigo has received its first-ever wide-body aircraft painted in the brand’s white and blue livery, making Indigo only the second airline in India to induct the wide body Boeing 777 aircraft. The B777 recently landed in India, showcasing its livery and will serve on the Delhi-Istanbul route.
The Boeing 777 aircraft has a total seating capacity of 400 passengers and is one of the largest operating wide planes in the world, ever since Boeing discontinued B747 and Airbus stopped A380 production. Before Indigo, only Air India had Boeing 777 aircraft in its fleet. In fact, Air India recently inducted the B777 planes, under their massive transformation plans.
Leaving aside the commercial airliners, India got its first introduction with the Boeing 777 in the form of the Air India One, the VVIP duo of the planes, inducted by the government of India to ferry the Prime Minister and President on their international visits. The Air India One B777 planes replaced the ageing Boeing 747 VVIP plane.
As for the wide body planes in India, apart from Air India and Indigo, only Vistara has deployed Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner for its international operations. No other Indian airline has wide body planes, including the ones serving international routes, including Spicejet and Go First.
As for the Indigo, through a codeshare arrangement with Turkish Airlines, the airline is providing connectivity to 33 European destinations, which includes countries such as Bulgaria, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Belgium, Hungary, Denmark, the Republic of Ireland, the UK, Malta, France, the Czech Republic, Israel, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal, and Edinburgh. These wide-body aircraft have been introduced to meet the growing demand for international travel from India.
“We are pleased to induct our second Boeing 777 aircraft on damp lease, which will operate on the Mumbai-Istanbul route. Through this addition, we are implementing our strategy and delivering on our promise to provide more convenient travel options for people looking to travel between India and Europe this summer,” Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo, said earlier this month.