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After making its long-haul debut from Mumbai, IndiGo plans to add its primary hub—Delhi—as a base for inter-continental flights with the launch of its Delhi-Manchester service from November 15. The airline, which is India’s largest carrier, also announced the launch of two other international services from Delhi—to Bali in Indonesia from October 24 and Krabi in Thailand from October 26—further strengthening its international operations from the Capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). Additionally, the airline will increase the frequency of its Delhi-Bangkok service to twice daily from October 26.
On the domestic front, starting October 26, IndiGo will be introducing additional daily, non-stop services from Delhi to nine cities—Rajkot, Vadodara, Patna, Goa, Shirdi, Nagpur, Nashik, Jabalpur, and Raipur. The airline will also introduce Purnea in Bihar as a new destination from Delhi, bringing the total domestic enhancement to 10 daily non-stop services. With this expansion, IndiGo will connect Delhi to 21 international and 74 domestic destinations, with over 1,700 weekly departures.
“This international expansion further strengthens the airline’s network depth in South-East Asia, and the Manchester service marks the start of IndiGo’s long-haul services from Delhi,” IndiGo said in a release Friday. While the non-stop Delhi-Manchester and Delhi-Krabi flights will be operated four days a week, the Delhi-Bali flight will be a daily service, but not a non-stop one. It will have a refueling halt in Bhubaneswar.
IndiGo will operate its damp-leased Boeing 787-9 aircraft between Manchester and Delhi. Flights to Bali and Krabi will be operated using the airline’s Airbus A320 family aircraft, and the enhanced services on the Delhi–Bangkok route will be operated with IndiGo’s A321 aircraft, which will also include the “stretch” cabin, its tailor-made business class product.
“Delhi has always been central to IndiGo’s growth story. Introducing new flights and additional frequencies from the National Capital will help us offer seamless and convenient air travel to our customers, enabling international connectivity from domestic as well as international locations via Delhi, and strengthening India’s links to key global markets. As we continue to grow internationally, developing globally competitive and locally connected aviation hubs in India will be a cornerstone of our growth strategy, accelerating our journey to become a global aviation leader by 2030,” said IndiGo’s Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers.
IndiGo made its long-haul debut early July with the launch of Mumbai-Manchester and Mumbi-Amsterdam services. The airline will also start direct flights to Copenhagen from Mumbai on October 8. Although Delhi has served as IndiGo’s main hub, the airline decided to launch long-haul flights from Mumbai primarily due to the ban on Indian airlines from overflying Pakistan, it is learnt. The airspace closure has also forced the airline to shift a few of its service to Central Asia from Delhi to Mumbai.
IndiGo, nonetheless, has been looking at expanding its international network from Delhi as well. Last month, the airline announced that it plans to launch thrice-weekly services to Athens from both Delhi and Mumbai from early January using its first A321XLR—the extra-long-range variant of Airbus’s popular narrow-body jet A321.
“The new international routes and frequencies to/from Delhi will offer a vast array of destinations for customers, as well as offer convenient, one-stop access between the UK and domestic India and beyond. IndiGo continues to strengthen its domestic network, seamlessly linking tier-1, tier-2, and emerging cities to its hubs like Delhi…With this, IndiGo is not only reinforcing Delhi Airport’s role as one of its key hubs but also contributing to developing India as a global aviation hub,” the airline said.
After dominating the Indian skies with a market share of over 60 per cent, IndiGo has been focusing on its “internationalisation” strategy, which entails a rapid expansion of its international network—including its foray into the long-haul segment with flights to Europe—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. IndiGo recently forayed into Europe, where Air India was the only Indian carrier operating flights.
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. In the case of India-Europe passenger traffic, overseas carriers have an even higher share of around 70 per cent. On May 30, the airline announced plans to launch flights to a total of 10 new overseas destinations in the financial year 2025-26, of which five are in Europe and the UK, growing its international network by a fourth to 51 destinations. Apart from Manchester and Amsterdam, IndiGo had said that it intended to start flights to London, Copenhagen, Athens, Siem Reap, and four Central Asian destinations.
