New Delhi: The Modi government has doubled the period for which Indian airlines can weight wide-body aircraft from six months to one year as a “stopgap” measure due to supply chain issues faced by the aviation industry. lease (hire with operating crew).
With dozens of aircraft grounded, waiting for engines and components, and supplies of new aircraft affected by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), domestic airlines with mega growth plans – IndiGo and Tata Group While Air India and Vistara were unable to spread their wings fast enough after Omicron, travel demand is back with a bang.
This policy change by the Jyotiraditya Scindia-led Union Ministry of Civil Aviation will allow them to provide more direct connectivity from India to the rest of the world on wide body aircraft, as long as they maintain their ordered aircraft and/or dry leased aircraft. Can’t get enough trained crew for.
Minister Scindia spoke to TOI on Monday about the change in the wide body weight lease policy. “It is a very dynamic environment in the aviation industry. For the last 2.5 years (Covid time), most of the aircraft were grounded without passengers. With the sector immediately turning into a frenzied scenario, this phenomenon has not been witnessed at least in the last 20-30 years,” he said.
“So the planes that were grounded for so long are in a position where they cannot fly high enough. The demand for travel has increased and the planes are not being supplied. Naturally, the aircraft majors slowed down their pipelines thinking demand would fall, while all of a sudden we had a flood (globally).
“So we’re stuck in a very awkward situation where we have airports, airlines that want to fly more but we can’t get enough aircraft.) We relaxed the wet lease environment to provide the connectivity we needed, Scindia said.
The minister has been pushing for more wide-body aircraft with Indian carriers so that they can provide point-to-point international connectivity from India. At present, most travel between India and the rest of the world takes place on domestic airlines of those places via nearby hubs such as the Gulf, Sri Lanka and South East Asia.
“If I don’t provide that flexible environment for our airlines to grow, how would that be possible? That’s why we took this decision. Some of our airlines like Air India, Indigo and Vistara have very strong and healthy fleet acquisition programmes. Other airlines are viewing this as a stop gap until they receive their aircraft. This will provide a good opportunity for growth in the immediate term, till our airlines get their aircraft on dry lease or on purchase, so that they can fly their routes, Scindia said.
After the change in policy, IndiGo can now take two twin aisles on wet lease for one year to operate flights between Delhi/Mumbai and Istanbul. As per the current bilateral between India and Turkey, airlines of both the countries can operate daily between Delhi and Istanbul; and Mumbai and Istanbul.
With the two permitted Boeing 777s that IndiGo will lease from Turkish Airlines, it can operate two permitted daily flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Istanbul instead of doing so on the single aisle Airbus A320 family of aircraft. Apart from these two, more wide body aircraft will be allowed wet leasing only if IndiGo uses them to operate nonstop between India and distant places like North America or UK.
Similarly, other Indian airlines, currently operating only one route, may now consider this route to expand their wings overseas, as long as they do so on dry leased or owned aircraft. Can’t do so far, only indian water and Vistara operate twin aisles.
With dozens of aircraft grounded, waiting for engines and components, and supplies of new aircraft affected by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), domestic airlines with mega growth plans – IndiGo and Tata Group While Air India and Vistara were unable to spread their wings fast enough after Omicron, travel demand is back with a bang.
This policy change by the Jyotiraditya Scindia-led Union Ministry of Civil Aviation will allow them to provide more direct connectivity from India to the rest of the world on wide body aircraft, as long as they maintain their ordered aircraft and/or dry leased aircraft. Can’t get enough trained crew for.
Minister Scindia spoke to TOI on Monday about the change in the wide body weight lease policy. “It is a very dynamic environment in the aviation industry. For the last 2.5 years (Covid time), most of the aircraft were grounded without passengers. With the sector immediately turning into a frenzied scenario, this phenomenon has not been witnessed at least in the last 20-30 years,” he said.
“So the planes that were grounded for so long are in a position where they cannot fly high enough. The demand for travel has increased and the planes are not being supplied. Naturally, the aircraft majors slowed down their pipelines thinking demand would fall, while all of a sudden we had a flood (globally).
“So we’re stuck in a very awkward situation where we have airports, airlines that want to fly more but we can’t get enough aircraft.) We relaxed the wet lease environment to provide the connectivity we needed, Scindia said.
The minister has been pushing for more wide-body aircraft with Indian carriers so that they can provide point-to-point international connectivity from India. At present, most travel between India and the rest of the world takes place on domestic airlines of those places via nearby hubs such as the Gulf, Sri Lanka and South East Asia.
“If I don’t provide that flexible environment for our airlines to grow, how would that be possible? That’s why we took this decision. Some of our airlines like Air India, Indigo and Vistara have very strong and healthy fleet acquisition programmes. Other airlines are viewing this as a stop gap until they receive their aircraft. This will provide a good opportunity for growth in the immediate term, till our airlines get their aircraft on dry lease or on purchase, so that they can fly their routes, Scindia said.
After the change in policy, IndiGo can now take two twin aisles on wet lease for one year to operate flights between Delhi/Mumbai and Istanbul. As per the current bilateral between India and Turkey, airlines of both the countries can operate daily between Delhi and Istanbul; and Mumbai and Istanbul.
With the two permitted Boeing 777s that IndiGo will lease from Turkish Airlines, it can operate two permitted daily flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Istanbul instead of doing so on the single aisle Airbus A320 family of aircraft. Apart from these two, more wide body aircraft will be allowed wet leasing only if IndiGo uses them to operate nonstop between India and distant places like North America or UK.
Similarly, other Indian airlines, currently operating only one route, may now consider this route to expand their wings overseas, as long as they do so on dry leased or owned aircraft. Can’t do so far, only indian water and Vistara operate twin aisles.