NEW DELHI: Aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on Friday gave Indigo Airlines permission to use aircraft from Turkish Airlines for a three-month period, which ends on August 31, 2025.
This was done to avoid inconvenience to passengers and would be a one-time and final extension, the regulator said in a statement.
Currently, IndiGo is operating two B777-300 ER aircraft under damp lease from Turkish Airlines, and the current lease is set to expire on May 31. IndiGo had earlier requested an extension upto six months till November 30, 2025.
The DGCA said, “In order to avoid passenger inconvenience due to immediate flight disruption, 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.”
The damp lease agreement is a system where the lessee will be responsible for providing the cabin crew while the lessor supplies the aircraft, flight crew and maintenance services.
IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers on Friday said it will comply with any government regulations amid the airline operating wet-leased planes of Turkish Airlines coming into focus.
Last week, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the civil aviation ministry was taking inputs from IndiGo and security agencies on the airline's use of planes leased from Turkish Airlines and then will decide on the way forward.
"Flights between India and Turkiye are 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 told PTI.
On May 15, aviation security watchdog BCAS revoked the security clearance for Turkish company Celebi Airport Services India Pvt Ltd in the "interest of national security", days after Turkiye backed Pakistan and condemned India's strikes on terror camps in the neighbouring country.
Some online travel portals and associations have also issued advisories asking people not to visit Turkiye.
IndiGo is operating direct flights to Istanbul with two leased Boeing 777 aircraft from Turkish Airlines each with over 500 seats.
It also offers codeshare seats to more than 40 points in Europe and the US through the codeshare partnership with the Turkish carrier.