Air India Is Angry At IndiGo

Tensions are heating up in India as flag carrier Air India retaliates against rival IndiGo over lease contracts.

According to Reuters, the Indian flag carrier calls on Indian officials to end the relationship between IndiGo and Turkish Airlines over lease arrangements.

The deal, which benefits IndiGo in terms of capacity and market share growth, naturally eats away at Air India’s. While this would generally be okay, the flag carrier believes that it isn’t being conducted correctly.

IndiGo knows that it faces delays in acquiring new aircraft, and therefore, building partnerships with established international airlines is important not only for the long term but also to mitigate the complexities in its business now.

Recent concerns have centred on Turkey, specifically Istanbul’s relationship with Pakistan. Given the ongoing tensions between the two nations, this has presented security-related frustrations on Air India’s side.

With national security arguably at an all-time high, given what has been unfolding, there has been pushback from Air India to revoke a relationship between IndiGo and Turkish Airlines that has been ongoing for at least a couple of years.

IndiGo To Rival Air India In New Era

IndiGo, another carrier based in India and, therefore, a threat to Air India, has been hellbent on growing as a business, with a strong focus on international expansion.

The acquisition of Boeing 787s, most recently on a lease from Norse Atlantic Airways, has enabled the growth of its international network as part of its growth efforts.

However, its long-standing relationship with Turkish Airlines formed an integral part of the initial solid international growth ambitions, which the flag carrier is now criticising.

The future of IndiGo will present challenges to Air India, which is currently rebuilding. As IndiGo continues advancing, the business will aim to take advantage of its counterpart’s misfortune and find ways to leverage this lack of satisfaction to attract prospective customers.

The sizeable order for the Airbus A350 signified Indigo’s long-term intent as the years progressed. While the 787 may be seen as a short-term solution, the building blocks are already in place to mount a sizeable force.

Air India will not be capable of capturing all the available market share as the country it calls home rapidly grows. Still, it’ll do its best to stop threats such as IndiGo, let alone outside forces, from taking away its market share.

Ultimately, some onlookers may perceive Air India’s frustrations as valid, given the ongoing political situation; others may point to it leveraging conflict in a bid to destroy a relationship IndiGo has built to try and gain a competitive edge.