As part of its ongoing expansion, low-cost carrier IndiGo Airlines, which is also India’s largest airline, has reportedly decided to take six Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners on a wet-lease.

According to news reports, IndiGo will wet-lease six B787-9s from Norse Atlantic Airways in the year 2025 and is also attempting to get Airbus to accelerate the deliveries of its first firm-ordered Airbus A350-900 to hasten its entry into the long-haul market.

News reports suggest that the first two B787-9s could begin flying for IndiGo Airlines as early as in February 2025, followed by the other four in September 2025. The aircraft would allow the Indian carrier to launch its first widebody long-haul routes and could be deployed to Europe, where London and Paris have been flagged as potential initial destinations.

IndiGo Airlines does not currently operate any in-house wide-body aircraft. It has wet-leased two Boeing 777-300ERs from its codeshare partner Turkish Airlines which are used exclusively for flights to Istanbul from Mumbai and Delhi airports.

The Norwegian low-cost airline had recently disclosed plans to wet-lease six of its Dreamliners to an unnamed ‘reputable international airline’ as it seeks to grow the share of Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance (ACMI) contracts in its revenues. The carrier’s fleet, split between the Norwegian AOC and Norse Atlantic (United Kingdom), comprises twelve B787-9s.

The wet-lease would be facilitated by India’s changing regulatory environment, where the regulators have historically tried to limit ACMI contracts, but are now relaxing the restrictions to support the growth of domestic airlines despite the limited supply of new aircraft on the market.

Separately, IndiGo Airlines has been cited by media as saying that it was in talks with Airbus to accelerate the deliveries of firm-ordered A350-900s. The carrier plans to take 30 units of the type, and the first one was initially scheduled to enter into service in 2027.