After establishing dominance in Indian skies and building a dense short-haul international network over 18-plus years, the country’s largest airline IndiGo has finally forayed into the long-haul segment, marking the beginning of a new chapter in the carrier’s evolution. Early July, the airline started flying non-stop to Manchester and Amsterdam from Mumbai, a milestone in its ambition to become a global airline by 2030 with its “internationalisation strategy” as a key cornerstone.
The plan involves product development to serve specific markets, building a global network by growing mid- and long-haul operations and deepening codeshare partnerships with global airlines, and inducting long-range narrow-body and wide-body aircraft, and all that while maintaining cost leadership.
IndiGo—for long seen as a classic low-cost carrier (LCC)—is shaping into what its chief executive Pieter Elbers likes to call a “fit-for-purpose” airline—one with varied product offerings in line with the demands of specific market segments, instead of the typical budget airline. Over the past year, IndiGo launched a tailor-made business class product—IndiGo Stretch—on select domestic routes, and a loyalty programme. The airline felt that there were sizable market segments within India where these offerings would work well. And beyond that, these were also part of the groundwork for the carrier’s log-haul operations.
On its just-launched long-haul flights—currently using damp-leased Boeing 787-9 aircraft from Norse Atlantic—IndiGo has hot meals and in-flight entertainment included for all flyers. It is also offering the international version of its Stretch product complete with complimentary alcoholic drinks service, choice of three-course hot meals, some free amenities, and even lounge access. And this could very well be the broad template for IndiGo’s long-haul operations.
‘Fit-for-purpose’ products, airline
“I don’t think our product here is what one can label or classify as an LCC or a ULCC (ultra-low-cost carrier) product. We have hot meals and baggage included. So, it’s a fit-for-purpose product and operation. For a nine-hour or 10-hour flight, we choose to have a product where food is included, instead of going through all the complexities of selling it on board. Does it mean that we have to do it all across the network, and for our five and six-hour flights? No, not at all. The fit-for-purpose for 10 hours looks different than that for four or five or six hours,” Elbers told The Indian Express after IndiGo’s inaugural Mumbai-Manchester flight.
“I believe very much that IndiGo should be a fit-for-purpose airline. That means that the hundreds of routes we operate in the nation itself should have a very cost compelling basis, and with that, a very attractive price. But some of the other routes in the nation, like its busiest, might need something more, and that’s why we started with IndiGo Stretch. And the same goes for these European flights. It’s fit for purpose and a value-for-money proposition. It’s going to be very competitive with some of the fares offered by our competitors. And importantly, it’s a direct connection,” the IndiGo CEO added.
IndiGo’s damp-leased Boeing 787 aircraft at the Manchester Airport (Express Photo)
IndiGo sees significant potential in the international segment, given that Indian airlines account for 45 per cent of India’s international air passenger traffic, while overseas carriers account for around 55 per cent. When it comes to India-Europe passenger traffic, overseas carriers have an even higher share of around 70 per cent, some of which is up for the taking, believes IndiGo. As part of its “internationalisation strategy”, IndiGo plans to induct extra-long-range narrow-body Airbus A321 XLR aircraft starting this year and wide-body Airbus A350 planes from 2027 to operate medium- and long-range international flights. With the A350s, IndiGo should be in a position to launch non-stop services between India and North America.
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But Elbers—a former KLM CEO whose nearly three years at IndiGo have been focused on internationalisation—does not want to wait for its own long-range aircraft to fuel its international expansion. He and the airline are in a hurry to emerge as trailblazers on a number of long-haul routes. Therefore, IndiGo decided to enter the long-haul market using damp-leased planes. IndiGo’s agreements with Norse Atlantic are for six Boeing 787-9 wide-body aircraft, one of which has been inducted and is operating the thrice weekly Mumbai-Manchester and Mumbai-Amsterdam services. The remaining five jets will be inducted over the course of this year and early next year.
International network development
Over the past two to three years, IndiGo has expanded its international network by adding destinations in regions including Central Asia and the Caucasus, Southeast Asia, and Africa using its narrow-body fleet. Europe, where Air India is the only Indian carrier that operates direct flights, was expected to be the next frontier for IndiGo. According to Elbers, the fact that 65 per cent of the world’s population lives within the range of IndiGo’s existing narrow-body fleet underscores the potential of international expansion within this radius and beyond.
In addition to Manchester and Amsterdam, IndiGo will be adding another eight international destinations in the current financial year (2025-26), growing its international network to 51 destinations. It intends to launch services to London, Copenhagen, Athens, Siem Reap, and four undisclosed Central Asian destinations. Barring Athens, the destinations in Europe and the UK are expected to be operated using the Norse Atlantic aircraft that IndiGo is taking on damp lease. Flights to Athens will be operated using the Airbus A321 XLR aircraft that IndiGo expects to start inducting in the current financial year. Siem Reap and the new destinations in Central Asia are likely to be operated using IndiGo’s mainline fleet of Airbus A320 family jets.
“When it comes to building the international network the opportunity is enormous and we have indeed demonstrated that with Central Asia, and even some places in Southeast Asia. But the way I would like to see the network developed is we start to expand the range step by step. You will continue to see a lot of new routes in, let me call it the region, Southeast Asia, Gulf…So, we are expanding the density of the regional international network, and at the same time continuously expand the borders of that network and stretch the scope of where we fly,” Elbers said.
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IndiGo also sees its codeshare partnerships with other international carriers as a tool for network development as it would help the airline study the traffic flows and demand and plan its own long-haul network densification over the coming years. Specific to IndiGo’s foray into Europe and the UK is the carrier’s recently announced partnership with Delta Air Lines, Virgin Atlantic, and Air France-KLM, which will help it offer connections to other points in Europe and the US from points that IndiGo would be flying to in Europe.
“I think partnerships, until a few years back, were very much foreign airlines flying to India and then putting their passengers on our domestic network, benefiting from IndiGo’s enormous domestic network. I think we are now making it much more reciprocal. So, for example, KLM has 30 destinations in India connecting on their flights from some major Indian cities. Now, we’re going to have connections on KLM from Amsterdam. With Virgin (Atlantic), same story. We’ll have connections with Virgin here in Manchester itself. So, it’s going to be more reciprocal now, and it’s surely going to help the further development of our network,” Elbers said.
The reporter was in Manchester at IndiGo’s invitation for the launch of the airline’s Mumbai-Manchester non-stop service.
