IndiGo to consider hedging fuel as it ventures on long haul routes

India's largest airline IndiGo is deliberating on whether to hedge fuel as it plans to venture on long haul routes where many of its prospective rivals' hedge fuel prices. IndiGo CEO Willie Walsh said that the airline had discussed the issue of fuel hedging with its board and would undertake a comprehensive review of such a decision.

Hedging is a strategy that tries to limit risks in financial assets. It uses financial instruments or market strategies to offset the risk of any adverse price movements. Airlines commonly hedge their fuel costs. They do this by buying or selling the expected future price of oil through a range of derivatives, thus protecting them from rising prices.

Walsh also said that hedging is fundamentally a risk management tool rather than a speculative bet on fuel prices, and because IndiGo’s domestic rivals remain unhedged, hedging individually for domestic operations would introduce asymmetric competitive risk for IndiGo. However, as the airline prepares to introduce wide-body Airbus A350 aircraft for long-haul international routes from 2028, its leadership has initiated discussions with IndiGo’s board to evaluate fuel hedging.


“I think we do need to look at what we would do in the context of long-haul expansion, given that most of the airlines that we are likely to compete with tend to be hedged at different levels. So, we’re evaluating the hedging policy of the airlines that are currently serving the market…I think the long-haul expansion does give us an opportunity to review our hedging policies," he said.

IndiGo has stayed away from hedging fuel prices saying that it can prove to be counterproductive if fuel prices fall in the short term and in the long-term window over 10 to 20 years, the benefit of hedge neutralises.

In the July-September period of FY 27, IndiGo reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 1,879 crore with its fuel expenses surged 67.2 % over last year.

Spot prices of crude oil surged when the US began bombing Iran in late February and have remained painfully high ever since.

IndiGo expects to receive its first Airbus A350 aircraft in the second quarter of 2028, which will enable the airline to expand its long-haul international network.

The A350 aircraft will have a three-class configuration -- 16 flat beds in business class, premium economy and economy class seats as

The configuration is locked for the first 10 A350 planes, and the airline would look at having more flat beds in business class later, Walsh said.

IndiGo’s push into premium long-haul travel comes as the carrier already dominates India’s domestic aviation market, with a share of around 65%. The A350s will be central to IndiGo’s plan to build a long-haul network, complementing its A321 XLR operations.

The airline had briefly operated long-haul international services using damp-leased Boeing 787-9 aircraft but has since discontinued those flights.