Interglobe Aviation (Indigo) shares were up two percent in morning trade on Monday after the Indian civil aviation ministry conditionally relaxed the rules to wet lease planes by Indian airlines by doubling down the period to a year. Indigo is one of the key beneficiaries of this as the airline can now wet-lease Boeing 777 aircraft from Turkish Airlines for a year.
It is noteworthy that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had denied IndiGo’s request to wet-lease aircraft for two years.
Shares of Indigo advanced were trading at Rs 1940.30 a share at 9:30 AM. With this move, the Narendra Modi government is aiming to boost affordable direct connectivity between India and long-distance locations in the US or Europe.
Earlier, an Indian carrier was permitted to induct an aircraft on a wet lease for three months, subject to a one-time extension of additional three months. The permission was granted only in emergency situations like unscheduled maintenance, and emergency grounding of planes among others.
Seat capacity between India and Turkey will nearly double with the wet lease of Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. IndiGo and Turkish Airlines have had a codeshare partnership (an arrangement that allows airlines to sell seats to each other) since 2018.
“We have witnessed a huge demand for travel from India to Turkey, Switzerland, and Portugal. Keeping customer demand in mind, we now offer 19 connecting flights through Istanbul to destinations like Geneva, Lisbon, Porto, and Basel. This will not only enhance international connectivity but also add capacity on these routes and make travel more affordable," said Vinay Malhotra, head of global sales of IndiGo to Business Standard earlier.
A wet lease means that the lessor provides pilots, maintenance, and aircraft insurance during the lease period.
(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)
