India is gearing up to reopen its international operations with various nations with all the preventive measures. The renowned airlines IndiGo and SpiceJet are gearing up to launch long-haul flights to international destinations. The largest airline of India, IndiGo, has not finalised the destinations where it will fly. It is expected that the airline might fly to London and Paris both. As of SpiceJet, the airline will be launching flights to the UK and Europe. However, both the carriers will be leasing long-haul planes on a wet-lease to commence international operations as the restrictions are being lifted slowly to grow the aviation sector and recover financial losses.
SpiceJet Will Use Oman Air Slot at Heathrow for Launching Flight
The second-largest airline of India, SpiceJet will use Oman Air’s slot available at Heathrow to launch flights to London. Also, the airline will use Airbus 330 aircraft in the operations. SpiceJet is also planning to lease three more for such flights. Talking about IndiGo, the airline is looking to wet-lease three aircraft to launch these flights. Both IndiGo and SpiceJet have been planning to launch low-cost flights to Europe and the UK. SpiceJet has been a little more aggressive on its approach and has acquired Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the past to launch such flights. IndiGo, on the other side, is discussing the idea of long-haul international flights at various levels. The carrier has already got an offer from Airbus to launch long-haul international flights.
Long-Haul Flights Will be New Business for Indian Airlines
Civil Aviation Minister of India Hardeep Singh Puri aspires that Indian airlines fly long-haul international flights and take away the traffic from international carriers that fly passengers through various hubs. The Covid-19 outburst will now push the people to prefer direct flights over a break journey through hubs. Also, if the Indian airlines will utilise the opportunity, they will be able to open new business for themselves and the monetary benefit will be switched from the Middle East or South East Asia to Indian airlines.
