IndiGo to foray into long-haul segment with flights to Manchester, Amsterdam from July | Business News
Manchester and Amsterdam will be the first long-haul destinations for India’s largest airline IndiGo, with flights expected to be launched in July using the wide-body Boeing 787-9 aircraft that the carrier recently took on damp lease from Norse Atlantic Airways.
“The flights to Manchester (3x weekly) and Amsterdam (3x weekly) are expected to commence in July 2025, subject to completion of all operational preparedness and regulatory approvals. With the arrival of additional aircraft from Norse later this year the frequencies could further grow, and in parallel, IndiGo is evaluating multiple other important markets across Europe to further expand its long-haul footprint,” the airline said in a release.
In addition to the damp-leased aircraft that has already been inducted by IndiGo, the airline will be taking three more Boeing 787-9 jets from Norse Atlantic on damp lease in the second half of this year. The already-inducted wide-body jet is initially being used to operate flights between Delhi and Bangkok, and will be deployed for flights to Amsterdam and Manchester, most likely from July.
As part of its “internationalisation strategy”, IndiGo plans to induct extra-long-range narrow-body Airbus A321 XLR aircraft and wide-body Airbus A350 planes to operate medium- and long-range international flights. While IndiGo will start receiving the A321 XLRs from 2025-26 and the A350s from 2027, the carrier evidently does not want to wait for them to further fuel its international expansion. Therefore, it has decided enter the long-haul market using damp-leased planes. The airline is understood to be in the market for more wide-body leasing opportunities.
After dominating the Indian skies with a market share of over 60 per cent, IndiGo has been making concerted efforts as part of its strategy of internationalisation, which entails a rapid expansion of its international network—including foraying into the long-haul segment—given the robust overseas travel demand from India.
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.
“IndiGo’s comprehensive network in domestic India and Asia will now be accessible to Manchester and Amsterdam, fulfilling a long-standing need for seamless connectivity between Europe and Asia by Indian operators. Over the past two years, IndiGo has been already building its brand presence in Europe through multiple codeshare partnerships connecting several European cities to India,” the airline said.
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IndiGo’s move to have a wide-body fleet of its own marked a significant departure from the classic and proven budget airline model that focusses on single-type narrow-body fleet and domestic and short-haul international routes. The low-cost long-haul model, on the other hand, has seen far more failures than successes globally. IndiGo currently operates a fleet of narrow-body jet and turboprop aircraft, except for two wide-body Boeing 777 planes on lease from Turkish Airlines specifically for flights between India and Turkey.
Over the past few years, IndiGo has been pushing its international network expansion to the extent it can with its narrow-body fleet. But instead of entering high-competition and busy routes, the airline has focussed on identifying under-served routes and those with latent demand, while also stimulating demand on certain others.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
