Revealed: IndiGo’s First Boeing 777 Leaves The Paint Shop

IndiGo's First Boeing 777 Leaves The Paint Shop
Photo Credit: Turkish Technic.
James Field - Editor in Chief 4 Min Read
4 Min Read

Turkish Technic has revealed the first Boeing 777 painted in the IndiGo livery as it has come out of the paint shop.

The aircraft is on lease from Turkish Airlines and will be used to operate services between Delhi and Istanbul.

Meet TC-LKD: IndiGo’s First Boeing 777…


TC-LKD, which will be the registration for the jet, is a 13.9-year-old Boeing 777-300ER that was first delivered to Air Austral in May 2009 as F-ONOU.

In August 2014, the aircraft was placed on a wet lease with Garuda Indonesia until it returned back to the French carrier in November 2014.

The IndiGo-based aircraft was then withdrawn from use in November 2016 and subsequently retired with AerCap as EI-WLA.

By September 2017, the aircraft was then bought back into service and handed over to Alitalia before being withdrawn from use in July 2021.

[monsterinsights_popular_posts_inline]

The jet was subsequently stored in the likes of Shannon, Hong Kong, Tarbes, and Istanbul before being handed over to Turkish Airlines earlier this month as TC-LKD.

The jet was originally supposed to be taken up by Azur Air, but in the wake of sanctions caused by the ongoing war in Ukraine, it was sent to the Turkish carrier instead.

Such a wet lease to IndiGo will enable the carrier to boost its capacity offerings, with the Delhi-Istanbul rotation expected to be popular.

The Configuration Is Going to Be A Little… Tight…


IndiGo's First Boeing 777 Leaves The Paint Shop
Photo Credit: Turkish Technic.

According to @ArenaJet, the airline wants to acquire such a 777 from Turkish Airlines, who are looking at leasing a jet with that configuration from Russian carrier Azur Air.

It is understood that 524 seats will be in Economy, with seven in Business Class.

IndiGo’s relationship with the Boeing 777 began back in October when it was revealed the airline was looking to lease up to four units of the type to meet the shortfall in capacity offerings.

An IndiGo spokesperson said the following about the decision:

“As an interim measure, we have decided to take on wet lease certain aircraft to cover the shortfall for our scheduled international operations.”

“We have received in-principal approval from the regulators, and the induction of these aircraft remains subject to further requisite regulatory approvals”.

“We are committed to exploring every opportunity possible to overcome these capacity challenges and provide our customers with efficient and affordable air travel,”.

Overall…


It remains clear that IndiGo needs heavier machinery to deal with the huge demand that it is experiencing for such international travel at present.

Looking ahead, it’s going to be interesting to see how much longer this will last and whether IndiGo may have to make a further investment to help fuel this growth.

But for now, all eyes will be on IndiGo to see how the proposed routes do and whether this could be the start of a further entry into the widebody market for the carrier.

TAGGED:
You Might Also Enjoy