IndiGo Could Order Widebody Aircraft For Direct London Flights

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The Indian airline IndiGo is ready to allow widebody to travel to London. The airline has claimed that they do not fly to Europe with stopovers and want a seamless, direct service for customers.

What are the details of the widebody order?

So far, IndiGo has not explained how close it is to ordering large-capacity aircraft. So far, the airline has only a fleet of Airbus short-haul aircraft. Indigo will open dramatic new routes to Europe with the recent order of the Airbus A321XLR body.

IndiGo placed a major order for new Airbus A320neo aircraft, some of which contained the A321XLR. This aircraft has become a dream come true for many airlines around the world, with its excellent economy and long-range, which is perfect for thin routes.

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However, the aircraft is not well suited for the Mumbai/Bengaluru-London route being considered by the airline.

“Deliveries of the A321 XLR begin from 2023-24. This aircraft can fly nonstop to western Europe but can’t do London (or other destinations in the UK) nonstop apart from maybe Delhi. When we launch London, we will look at places like Mumbai and Bengaluru also. For that we will need wide-body aircraft which are certainly not ruled out by the recent 300-aircraft order,” mentioned IndiGo’s CEO, Ronojoy Dutta

What would the IndiGo order?

The CEO of IndiGo has just confirmed that he will not be placing a bulk order in the next six months.

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Otherwise, we would suspect that they are considering either the Boeing 787 series or, more likely, the Airbus A330neo range. The only problem is that the Boeing 787 is a bit cheaper than the A330neo, so having a good deal could influence the opinion of such a price-conscious company.

However, in a recent quote (see below), the CEO mentioned the capacity of 350 passengers. This would put any order towards an A330-900neo or maybe even an Airbus A350.

What will the widebody be like onboard?

There is one question everyone is asking: Will IndiGo introduce Business Class aboard their Widebodies (similar to AirAsia X on their A330)? The answer is – possibly.

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“Widebody needs a business class. As of now, the business class market exists more for flying into India than flying out. We are creating corridors (for the flow of passengers to create transit feed required to fill up these planes) by expanding the in the east and far east. Filling 350-seater wide-body requires that and this something all big airlines globally have done,” Dutta continued

Since IndiGo has only operated short to medium-haul flights (with the longest flight to Istanbul by about seven hours), some parts of her cabin had to be reworked for longer trips. First, the aircraft seats are a bit hard and not designed for such long trips. Passengers also lack blankets or pillows.

There is a passenger comfort that IndiGo has ruled out – Hot food. So far, only cup noodles have been served on board, while the rest of their selection came from cold packaged items from home. The reason for this is the fuel economy if no heavy ovens are on board.

What do you think? Which plane will IndiGo order in your opinion? Let us know in the comments.

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Manish Khandelwal
Manish Khandelwal

Manish Khandelwal, a travel-tech enthusiast with over a decade of experience in the travel industry. Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Travelobiz.com, he's passionate about writing.

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