‘Final extension’: DGCA lets IndiGo fly 2 Turkish planes for 3 more months
DGCA said the extension was granted on the condition that IndiGo will end the lease arrangement with Turkish Airlines within the next three months
NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday said that it granted a three-month extension to budget carrier IndiGo to operate two B777-300ER aircraft on a damp lease from Turkish Airlines.
The aviation regulator said the decision was taken to avoid passenger inconvenience on the condition that this will be the last extension and the IndiGo will end the lease arrangement with Turkish Airlines within this duration.
“...Indigo has been granted a one-time last and final extension of three months upto 31.08.2025 for these damp-leased aircraft, based on the undertaking from the airline that, they will terminate the damp lease with Turkish Airline within this extension period, and shall not seek any further extension for these operations,” DGCA said.
The regulator said the airline had sought an extension of six months.
There have been calls to revisit business ties with Turkey after Ankara supported Pakistan during the military confrontation with India after New Delhi carried out retaliatory strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Friday’s decision comes weeks after the government revoked the security clearance of Turkish ground handling service firm Celebi, citing national security.
In its order, DGCA said, “Indigo is currently operating two B777-300ER aircraft under damp lease from Turkish Airline, which was permitted upto 31.05.2025. Indigo requested for a further extension of the same for another six months, which was not agreed to”.
IndiGo operates direct flights to Istanbul using the two wide-bodied aircraft leased from Turkish Airlines, and offers codeshare connections to Europe and the US through its partnership with the Turkish carrier.
IndiGo chief executive officer Pieter Elbers stressed that the flights between India and Türkiye were governed by the bilateral air service agreement. “We are compliant today and we will continue to comply with any government regulations on those lines,” Elbers said on Friday morning, ahead of an annual global summit of airline industry leaders to be held in India beginning June 1. This is the first time in 42 years that the annual summit of the International Air Transport Association, the global trade association representing airlines, is being held in the country.
Flights to 8 more international destinations
Elbers added that IndiGo would launch direct flights to eight new international destinations during this financial year including four to Central Asia. The airline was recently forced to temporarily shut its operations to Tashkent and Almaty due to constraints in the aircraft’s operational range after Pakistani airspace was shut for Indian airlines and Indian registered aircraft in April following tensions between the two countries.
To be sure, the airline is yet to announce the originating city (in India) for the eight new international destinations.
Asked how the airline plans operations to Central Asia given the extra flying time and cost bear by the airline, due to the airspace restriction, Elbers said that the airline was in the process of deciding the start point from India. He said, “..the geographic size of India allows us to go back to the map we had earlier, and you put India at the center, for North, East, South, West. we’re not yet announcing for what city exactly…it’s difficult to put into long-term planning whether it (the NOTAM restricting Indian airlines to use Pakistani airspace) will be there or not. So therefore, I think every airline should do some scenario planning whether it will be there or not there. And Indigo is no exception to that. So we do scenario planning, and clearly, circumflying would have an impact on the network as it has today, on the small part of the network. But it’s difficult to predict exactly at what point in time that situation will change. “
The airline’s long-haul debut will begin in July with Mumbai-Manchester and Mumbai-Amsterdam routes using leased Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The eight other destinations will also include London, Athens, Copenhagen and Siem Reap. With this, the airline will be connected to 50 international destinations by the end of the financial year.
IndiGo, which is the host airline for the IATA event, has a fleet of over 430 planes and operates 2,300 daily flights across 90 domestic and 40 international destinations.
Elbers said the airline anticipates surpassing a fleet size of 600 aircraft by 2030 with one new aircraft joining the fleet every week throughout FY26.
