World Go! IndiGo eyes the whole wide world, announces services to 10 new international destinations

India’s leading private airline, IndiGo, on Friday announced that it plans to operate services to as many as 10 new international destinations from India this year.

 

The new international stops announced on May 30 include London, Copenhagen, Athens, and Siem Reap (Cambodia), as well as four new destinations in Central Asia. The airline had earlier announced flights to Amsterdam and Manchester starting July 2 from Mumbai.

 

London and Copenhagen will begin this winter, while the rest are likely before the financial year is out. IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said the airline is yet to finalise which (out of the six airports that service the London Metropolitan Area) hub it will operate from for its inaugural flight to the UK capital. 

 

The airline has yet to finalise the originating point for the newly announced routes, especially considering the disadvantage its hub in Delhi, Indira Gandhi International Airport, is facing due to the closure of Pakistan’s airspace for Indian flights since the Pahalgam terror attack, which adds additional flying time to flights to the west.

 

Elbers also announced that the airline, generally billed as a low-cost carrier (LCC), will introduce its ‘Stretch’ business class offering on international flights to Dubai, Singapore, Bangkok and Phuket. The airline, which will use leased Boeing 787 planes on its long-haul flights to Manchester and Amsterdam, had already announced that it will offer hot meals on these 10-hour flights. 

 

India’s biggest, the world’s seventh largest, and one of the fastest growing airline companies in the world, Gurugram, Haryana-based IndiGo has major expansion plans for the year, from setting up an aircraft maintenance and overhauling (MRO) centre in association with the Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru to new routes and destinations within the country, as well.

 

IndiGo is already set to be the inaugural airline to service the spanking new Noida and Navi Mumbai airports, expected to start services later this summer. Additionally, the airline also announced the start of domestic airports from two fresh airports—Hindon (which is on course to become the third airport to service Delhi NCR) as well as Adampur (outskirts of Jalandhar in Punjab).

 

“India today is no longer the India of 18 years ago (when IndiGo was founded),” said Elbers, “We equally have an opportunity to serve first-time flyers as well as aspirational ones (who want to fly business class and travel internationally). At the end of the day, the key differentiator is cost leadership... We remain determined to maintain our cost leadership while continuously enhancing our operational efficiency and profitability.”

 

The airline’s breakneck speed of expansion has been cramped due to the delay in the delivery of its plane orders, including the record-breaking 500 planes (total planes on order: 900) from Airbus, which include the A321 XLRs as well as the wide-bodied A350s. While the A350s, much coveted by international carriers and delayed due to issues on the production and assembly line, will help Indigo to fly anywhere globally, the delay has forced it to look at damp lease of six Boeing 787 Dreamliners from Norse Atlantic Airways—which should arrive in time for the launch of the flights to Amsterdam and Manchester. 

 

IndiGo reported a revenue of ₹84,000 crore last financial year, with a profit of more than ₹7,000 crore.

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