One thing is apparent from the codeshare agreement between Turkish Airlines and IndiGo: business class tickets will only be offered when purchased through a Turkish Airlines ticket.
Turkish Airlines said in a statement announcing its wet leasing deal with IndiGo that while it will be able to sell both business class (B/C) and economy class (E/C) tickets throughout the process, IndiGo Airlines would only be able to do so due to its operating structure.
The Boeing 777 service between Delhi, India, and Istanbul, Turkey, has recently begun with IndiGo, which only offers tickets in economy class. The Turkish Airlines-owned Boeing 777s have been wet-leased and are equipped with business and economy class seating.
What transpires if codeshare agreements are not “equal”?
Codesharing agreements between airlines typically emphasize convenience and give customers more route alternatives. But when full-service airlines like Turkish Airlines codeshare with budget airlines like IndiGo, things can become a little more complicated.
For instance, when a traveler books and pays for a Turkish Airlines ticket that is codeshared with IndiGo, it means that while the ticket (and, in most cases, the flight number) will say Turkish Airlines, the aircraft that will actually fly that segment will be operated by IndiGo, a company that only offers economy seats.
Despite knowing that a flight segment is a codeshare trip, travellers may still be dissatisfied when they book a full-service airline and receive service from a low-cost carrier. Numerous people will remember the event from December 2022 when an IndiGo flight attendant got into a “shouting battle” with a passenger over the availability of meals.
The incident took place on an IndiGo-Turkish Airlines codeshare flight, according to a statement from IndiGo.
The exchange between the passenger and the flight attendant seems to indicate that the passenger purchased a Turkish Airlines ticket and was hoping for a lunch that was more filling than what IndiGo could provide, however this is not confirmed.
Codeshare agreements like this can hopefully become more convenient for both passengers and crew by establishing a rule that states that business class seats can only be reserved via a Turkish Airlines-issued ticket.
