Wow: IndiGo Wants To Operate A 531-Seater Boeing 777

Photo Credit: Emil Bree/AviationSource
James Field - Editor in Chief 4 Min Read
4 Min Read

LONDON – The Mumbai-Istanbul rotation seems to be going well for IndiGo as they intend on operating a 531-seater Boeing 777-300ER from Turkish Airlines.

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.

The Original Route…


Photo Credit: Md Shaifuzzaman Ayon/AviationSource

This route was unveiled in October 2022, with the service commencing on January 1 of this year.

IndiGo, in a codeshare partnership with Turkish Airlines, has enhanced this new direct flight operations, thus unlocking new opportunities for IndiGo in Turkey and beyond.

The new service between Mumbai and Istanbul will be operated on a daily basis and will capture a sizable market share on the LCC front as this will be the only no-frill carrier in the country offering non-stop flights on the long haul sector from Mumbai to Istanbul.

Newly announced IndiGo flights between Mumbai and Istanbul are scheduled strategically to attract more leisure and VFR travelers.

The IndiGo flight 6E17 on its outbound sector will depart Mumbai International Airport at 03:10 Local Time and arrive in Ras Al Khaimah in UAE at 05:10 for a 45 minutes refueling stopover before proceeding further and arriving in Istanbul at 10:00 Local Time, covering a total of 9 hours and 20 minutes flight time.

On the return leg, IndiGo flight 6E18 will depart Istanbul International Airport at 20:15 Local Time and will arrive in Mumbai non-stop at 05:00 Local Time, thus covering 6 hours and 15 minutes of flight time.

This new flight between Mumbai and Istanbul operates with the Airbus A321 aircraft in its fleet but will be moving over to the leased 777s.

IndiGo & Boeing 777s…


IndiGo are looking to use Turkish Airlines Boeing 777s on the Istanbul-Mumbai route.
Photo Credit: Karam Sodhi/AviationSource

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…


IndiGo will be using Turkish Airlines Boeing 777s for the Mumbai-Istanbul route.
Photo Credit: Karam Sodhi/AviationSource

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 when they will announce this equipment upgrade very soon.

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