The announcement that Norse Atlantic made some time ago regarding the leasing of six Boeing 787-9s in the ACMI market to an important carrier had left a shadow of doubt as to who had the intention of using these medium/high-speed aircraft. long term as the duration of the contract. Only a few major carriers could have been among the candidates, because not only is the financial commitment involved in chartering huge, but also on which routes to use them is a very important operation. In these hours the name was discovered: IndiGo, led by Pieter Elbers, well known to all for these twists. His experience of 30 years in KLM up to being the CEO for 8 years is not something to be left to chance. In particular from the fact that it has already ordered around thirty A350-900s and this move would clearly be a bridgehead placed towards the future to already occupy positions.
Apparently the wet-lease of these planes will cover the need to activate long-range routes and not to increase capacity on certain shorter routes where a significant number of seats are also needed.
According to The Economic Times, IndiGo is exploring plans to wet lease up to six Boeing 787 Dreamliners from Norse Atlantic Airways to launch flights to key long-haul destinations, including London and Paris, as early as 2025. That Is Italy also among the possible destinations?
IndiGo would use a two-step introduction. The first two B787-9s would be on line very soon by February 2025. While the other four will join its fleet by September 2025. practically at the end of the high season for the scheduled operations of the Norwegian carrier, which has said it wants to concentrate its activity in the ACMI segment and no longer the expansion of regular flights, which in that formula has certainly not allowed it to generate profits in recent times, but already since its opening.
Preliminary international media reports have previously indicated that Norse Atlantic Airways and an undisclosed airline have agreed to a wet lease structure with an estimated monthly payment of 350 block hours per aircraft, subject to regulatory and corporate approvals. The total value of the contract is expected to be approximately $462 million.
This strategic move will mark IndiGo's entry into the long-haul segment, leveraging its market leadership in India to compete on international routes.
In fact, both on the national market and on the Asian and Middle Eastern markets, IndiGo now has a notable leverage in supplying passengers to then embark on these large-capacity aircraft. recently over Istanbul, Indigo had used a B777-300ER, which is now on standby since its operations ended in mid-November. In short, the launch of an expanded network requires aircraft, particularly small ones, and Norse's solution is the only solution to offer large-capacity aircraft, in this case with a comfort class and an economy class. not all economy like the 524 seater it used on Istanbul, the result of an all leisure configuration set up for a Russian carrier, which was never able to use it due to the embargo.
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