IndiGo CEO says delayed jet deliveries limiting growth

Delays in getting airplane deliveries from Airbus (AIR.PA) due to supply chain disruptions are limiting IndiGo's ability to grow as quickly as it would like in some markets, the airline's Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers said on Monday. India's aviation market is booming as demand for air travel accelerates from pandemic lows. With global demand for planes rising, Boeing (BA.N) and Airbus are scrambling to meet the overflowing order book amid supply chain issues. "There's an opportunity in the markets where we would like to serve our customers and we cannot do it yet to the extent we would like to," Elbers told Reuters in an interview, asked about pressure from the shortage of aircraft supply. "Customers are back knocking on our doors to fly. There's a market out there. The whole pressure on the supply chain is of course something we're not happy with," Elbers said. India, expected to become the world's third-largest economy by 2030, is the fastest-growing civil aviation market and Boeing forecasts that over the next 20 years its carriers will need 2,210 new planes. IndiGo, India's biggest airline with more than 50% share of the market, has seen a resurgence in domestic and international demand with its capacity doubling over the past year. In the short-term, IndiGo is meeting some of this demand by extending leases on existing planes and working with partners like Turkish Airlines, which has rented IndiGo a large jet complete with crew to fill international capacity.<br/>