Indigo considers wet leasing after grounding 30 aircraft, here’s what that means

Supply chain disruptions, energy crisis and logistical issues have forced aircraft makers such as Airbus and Boeing to reduce production, triggering a shortage of carriers. IndiGo may be flying high as India’s top airline with an almost 60 per cent market share in the country’s skies, but even that hasn’t helped it glide over global headwinds. Due to a supply chain issues, the airline has grounded 30 of its airplanes, which has affect its operations in India.

Pressure of being the largest player

With 1600 flights on a daily basis to 100 destinations Indigo has the world’s seventh highest departures, and is way ahead of its closest competitor in India Vistara. But now the airline has to look for other alternatives, including wet leasing of aircraft, to fulfill the rising aviation demand in India. Late last month, India’s aviation regulator DGCA allowed IndiGo to wet lease a Turkish Airlines plane for just three months, and didn’t entertain a request to extend it to two years.

How does wet leasing work?

Wet leasing is a temporary measure used by major airlines to accommodate more passengers, by borrowing aircraft from other carriers, along with one or more crew members to provide full-fledged service on board. Apart from wet leasing to scale up capacity for a short period, IndiGo is also working with OEM partners to untangle supply chain disruptions, so that it can provide adequate services. The planes as of now are grounded because of maintenance and repairs, but they represent about 12 per cent of the overall Indian fleet.

IndiGo isn’t the only airline hit, since close to 75 aircraft belonging to Indian carriers have been grounded because of the ongoing supply chain issues, even as ailing firms struggle to relaunch operations.

Published on: Monday, November 07, 2022, 07:14 PM IST