DGCA gives ‘last and final' extension to IndiGo for damp-leased Turkish Airlines aircraft; IndiGo to terminate arrangement within three months
Amid the backlash against Turkey in India, the government has rejected IndiGo's request to extend its damp lease of two wide-body jets from Turkish Airlines for six months, but has allowed a three-month 'one-time last and final extension' to avoid immediate disruption in operations on the airline's Delhi-Istanbul and Mumbai-Istanbul routes. The three-month extension, which came just a day before the current lease period was set to expire, has been granted following an undertaking by IndiGo stating that it will terminate its damp lease pact with Turkey's flag carrier.
'IndiGo is currently operating two B777-300ER (Boeing 777) aircraft under damp lease from Turkish Airlines, which was permitted up to 31.05.2025. IndiGo requested for a further extension of the same for another six months, which was not agreed to. However, in order to avoid passenger inconvenience due to immediate flight disruption, IndiGo has been granted a one-time last and final extension of three months up to 31.08.2025 for these damp leased aircraft, based on the undertaking from the airline that, they will terminate the damp lease with Turkish Airlines within this extension period, and shall not seek any further extension for these operations,' a senior official at India's aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said Friday.
There have been calls from some quarters in India for IndiGo to end its relationship with Turkish Airlines, including its codeshare and arrangement for damp-leased aircraft, with which IndiGo operates its flights to Istanbul from Delhi and Mumbai. These planes are high-density Boeing 777 aircraft with over 500 seats apiece, allowing IndiGo to carry significantly more passengers that what its regular narrow-body aircraft can carry.
In the past, IndiGo has operated its flights to and from Turkey using its narrow-body Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft whenever the Boeing 777 jets faced technical issues or the lease arrangement was not in place. According to industry insiders, IndiGo has two choices now — operate flights to Turkey using smaller aircraft with lower seat capacity, or deploy other damp-leased wide-body aircraft that the airline is in the process of inducting.
Following India's decision to cancel the security clearance of Turkey-headquartered airport ground handling major Celebi, speculation was rife that the IndiGo-Turkish Airlines damp lease renewal may not receive a favourable decision from the government. The past few days have seen a growing clamour for a boycott of Turkey and review of Turkish firms' presence in India in the wake of Operation Sindoor. Apart from Ankara's open support for Islamabad in the recent India-Pakistan military, widespread use of Turkish drones by Pakistan in operations against India has added to the disapproval for Turkey in India.
On its part, IndiGo has maintained that its codeshare partnership with Turkish Airlines and the operation of damp-leased wide-body jets between the two countries are fully compliant with all Indian rules and regulations, and are strictly within the framework of the India-Turkey bilateral air services agreement.
'The flights between India and Turkey are governed and are within the framework of the air service agreement between the two nations. Two, the operations which are taking place are fully compliant and in line, not only with the regulatory framework, but also with all the rules and regulations from the (Indian) government…We still have lots and lots of Indian customers booked on these flights, mostly connecting over at Istanbul and flying to other parts of the world for their travel needs,' IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers had said in an investor call last Wednesday (May 21).
In response to a question on IndiGo's options if the damp lease arrangement with Turkish Airlines is not renewed beyond May, Elbers had said: 'As a good airline, we make sure that we have fallback plans in case of changes. And I think we have demonstrated that over the last years, be it domestic, be it international…We'll deal with it, and we adjust our network accordingly'.
The air services agreement between India and Turkey allows carriers of both countries to operate a total of 56 flights a week between India and Turkey—28 flights from India to Turkey and 28 in the opposite direction—without a cap on the number of seats on each flight. Turkish Airlines and IndiGo have split the allocation between themselves. As the bilateral air services pact does not have a cap on seats, the larger the aircraft, the better it is for IndiGo given the high demand on India-Turkey routes, which is largely due to Istanbul being a global transit hub. That is the reason why the Indian airline, after initially operating its Istanbul flights using its own narrow-body fleet, switched over to a damp-lease arrangement with Turkish Airlines for wide-body aircraft with more than twice the capacity of IndiGo's own narrow-body jets.
Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More
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