In lines with Air India’s recent deal with Boeing and Airbus, IndiGo Airlines has announced an expansion plan to extend its service to more European destinations, including Turkey. In an interview, IndiGo’s international sales head Vinay Malhotra told news agency ANI that the airline has partnered with Turkish Airlines and also ordered 500 aircrafts in a bid to improve further expand to Turkey and other locations in Europe.

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The deal to acquire 500 aircrafts was made with the renowned international manufacturer Airbus and Boeing which will allow the airline to fly to 27 destinations in the continent. These locations are situated in nations including the UK, France, Italy, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland along with others. In order to make this work, IndiGo made a codeshare partnership with Turkish Airlines as their flights ‘have multiple frequencies’ to these points.

“With our partnership with them as a codeshare we are able to carry passengers from India to Istanbul and from Istanbul to beyond,” Malhotra told ANI.

IndiGo’s deal comes days after the Tata Group-owned Air India made a purchase of 470 passenger aircrafts from the same manufacturers along with 370 optional buys that would be procured over the next decade.

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He said IndiGo currently operates around 1,800 flights daily with 10% of them on international routes. “The farthest we travel is to Turkey and Istanbul. We have been very keen to fly further and that’s why a partnership with Turkish airlines,” he added.

Malhotra further announced that IndiGo will launch two new points – Nairobi and Jakarta – in near future.

(With ANI inputs)