India's lack of widebody aircraft a 'scandal', says incoming IndiGo chief

India's lack of widebody aircraft a 'scandal', says incoming IndiGo chief
India's aviation market is poised for significant expansion but remains constrained by a limited number of widebody aircraft, Willie Walsh, the incoming chief executive of IndiGo, told the BBC.
Walsh described the country's fleet of 50 widebody aircraft as a "scandal" given its size and growth potential.
A widebody aircraft is a larger, twin-aisle plane designed to carry more passengers over longer distances, making it essential for non-stop international and long-haul routes.
Walsh will join IndiGo, India's largest airline, in August after the end of his term as the director general of the International Air Transport Association.
He succeeds Pieter Elbers who resigned as IndiGo's CEO on 10 March, citing personal reasons.
But it was widely seen as being linked to a recent crisis that forced the airline to cancel thousands of flights, the largest disruption in its 20-year history.
In December, the carrier cancelled about 4,500 flights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at airports across India.
The disruption followed the introduction of new pilot duty and rest regulations in India designed to reduce fatigue among flight crews. The airline later acknowledged it had misjudged how many pilots it would need once the rules came into force.
In an interview with the BBC, Walsh declined to comment directly on the airline but offered a broad assessment of India's aviation landscape and the challenges it faces.
"I'm not going to really comment on it because I haven't started there until August," he said, referring to IndiGo. "So I can comment about India in general, but not IndiGo specifically."
Walsh said India's aviation sector had been "fascinating to watch in recent years", pointing to strong growth and improving connectivity.
"When you look at that, 1.4 billion people, the geography of the country, the demographics, everything points to the needs and the desire to see greater connectivity by air," he said.
However, Walsh highlighted a major gap in long-haul capacity.
"When you think about it, it's a country of 1.4 billion and counting. But they only had 50 widebody aircraft in the country last year. So that's probably - you could describe it as a scandal," he said.
"They should be much bigger than that. And I think they will be much bigger than that going forward."
Walsh also pointed to a significant opportunity for Indian carriers to expand their global footprint.
"India has depended on transferring people over the Gulf hubs, particularly into North America," Walsh said. "So that's a huge opportunity for Indian carriers to grow their presence on the global scale."
On the broader economic outlook, Walsh said India would be "a fascinating economy to watch in the years ahead", expressing confidence in its growth trajectory.
He also addressed the impact of global energy disruptions, noting that India's position as a major oil importer presents unique challenges.
"India is a big importer of oil. Interestingly, they're a big refiner as well," he said, adding that the supply of jet fuel had been affected by restrictions linked to the war in Ukraine.
Walsh said the disruptions could prompt a broader rethink on energy policy.
"I'd like to think that this will encourage governments again to evaluate the advantage of renewable energy where we don't see a corresponding investment in renewable energies compared to the investments we've seen in traditional fossil fuels," he said
"So maybe this will help people to re-evaluate that in terms of energy security and energy independence rather than just looking at it strictly from an environmental point of view."
But Walsh expressed disappointment at the behaviour of sustainable fuel suppliers.
"What has been disappointing for us is to see the significant increase in the price of sustainable aviation fuel," Walsh said.
"You would have liked to have thought… this would have been a great opportunity… to demonstrate the importance of sustainable fuel as an alternative."
"Instead, we are seeing people just taking profit out of what's happening at the moment," he added. "At one level, I find that disappointing. At another level, I suppose you've got to recognise that's the way markets operate."
Despite current challenges, Walsh said demand fundamentals remained strong and any disruption to key routes, such as those linking India with the Gulf, was likely to be temporary.
"I think it will rebound pretty quickly," he said.
Looking ahead, Walsh reiterated the scale of the opportunity.
"I've been a long supporter and admirer of what's happening in India," he said. "The investment that the airlines have made, the investment that the governments have made in the infrastructure there."
"The opportunity for India," Walsh added, "is actually to provide direct international connectivity from India to the world."