Several reports have indicated that IndiGo plans to induct widebody aircraft and will start new routes and upgrade capacity on some existing ones. For an airline that went around touting the benefits of its no-frills, single-aircraft-model fleet, IndiGo has come a long way. Yet, taking in the widebody is quite different from inducting ATRs or A321s alongside the A320s and marks a dimensional shift in approach.
These reports come within months of Airbus painting Delhi and London on one of its new A321XLR aircraft, which are due to be delivered in the next couple of years. The aircraft has a promised range of 4,700 nautical miles, but is yet to be tested in an operating environment.
Also Read: IndiGo takes another stab at Istanbul. Will it work?
London has been on the agenda for IndiGo for a long time. Former CEO Rono Dutta had categorically ruled out widebodies, citing the costs that it would incur. However, the airline had filed for slots at London’s Heathrow time and again, with one-stop flights via the Caucasus.
IndiGo is looking at the induction of wet-leased aircraft, playing very safe, with the ability to get out of the market without impacting its bottom line and being stuck with an aircraft for long. Testing the waters will help it decide on the way forward and whether it wants its own widebodies.
A wet lease, where the cockpit and cabin crew are loaned along with the plane, or a damp lease, where the cockpit crew is loaned with the plane but the cabin crew belongs to a marketing airline, would give IndiGo insights into the markets and help take on Air India.
This is also not the first time that the airline is inducting wet-leased aircraft. IndiGo had commissioned aircraft from Small Planet Airlines in the winter schedule of 2018.
Widebody and LCCs - a bitter marriage
Icelandic carrier WOW Air had launched flights to India in late 2018. The all-narrowbody carrier had moved to operate the A330s and added New Delhi. But the widebody expansion hurt and led to the airline folding up soon after.
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, which operated a fleet of B787 Dreamliners, wound up during the pandemic, though the narrowbody arm continues to operate.
Closer home, the biggest success story was touted to be of AirAsia X, the low-cost, long-haul arm of AirAsia. Like the flagship, AirAsia X formed subsidiaries in Thailand and Indonesia. While AirAsia went from strength to strength, the long-haul arm struggled. The airline’s A330s have a lie-flat seat as part of a small business class section.
From operating flights for AirAsia to operating short-haul, high-volume sectors, the group has tried everything to plug losses. The group recently cancelled an order for the A330neo, marking a setback for the programme.
There have been a handful of success stories, one of which has been Scoot, which operated both widebody and narrowbody aircraft. Scoot is part of Singapore Airlines Group.
Other airlines in the region that operate widebodies are VietJet Air of Vietnam, Cebu Pacific in the Philippines, and Lion Air in Indonesia. All of them are giants in their own ways in their home markets, just like IndiGo. But the percentage of widebody seats or fleets on offer is minuscule compared to the presence of narrowbody aircraft – again, just like IndiGo.
What are the challenges?
It is unclear what aircraft subtype IndiGo will induct and what classes of service it will operate. But for 16 years since inception, the IndiGo website has never had an option of selecting a class of service. Is that headed for a change?
If the airline decides on a damp lease, it would have to train the cabin crew. While this may not be time consuming, it surely comes at an additional cost.
On the operational front, the case of an aircraft-on-ground situation has to be considered. The airline has been able to swap planes and accommodate passengers swiftly due to the availability of similar planes. In the case of a widebody, that will not be the case and could mean some not-so-happy passengers.
Also, years of standardisation are giving way to luxury. Will that increase expectations from passengers or create confusion?
Tail Note
These are early days. The airline is yet to reveal any details – about the plane, product or routes. IndiGo would have either obtained the aircraft at prices that were too tempting or has a solid business plan that will be known later. Either way, aviation is a business where things turn upside down very fast.
A looming recession in the west, the tightening of interest rates in India that’s squeezing fund availability, and a depreciating rupee are all factors that could affect the airline. While a widebody can carry twice the number of passengers as a narrowbody, the losses would be more than that for an empty flight!
In an environment where neither the rupee nor oil is kind, IndiGo is placing another bet, which time will tell if it pays off or not.
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