IndiGo is the largest airline within the fast-growing Indian market, but recently, all the headlines have focused on its international long-haul expansion. This week was no different, as the carrier announced that it will be launching two new routes to China later this month. This makes it the first airline to provide non-stop service between India and China since the pandemic and a deadly border clash brought air links to a halt in 2020.
IndiGo is also expanding rapidly in the other direction, using wet-leased Boeing 787s to launch new long-haul routes to Europe. This week alone it has firmed up plans for new routes to London Heathrow Airport and Manchester Airport. And just for good measure, IndiGo also plans to become the first carrier to provide direct flights between India and Cambodia from next month.
The First Flights To China In Five Years
Back in 2019, approximately 1.25 million people traveled on direct flights between India and China. But the pandemic caused the initial shutdown of the air corridor, and then the bilateral relationship soured further following a military standoff in Eastern Ladakh, which prevented the resumption of direct flights. Now the two governments are finalizing an updated air services agreement, and IndiGo plans to be the first airline to resume direct service.
The BBC reports that, pending regulatory approvals, IndiGo intends to begin a daily service between Kolkata and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport from October 26, operated using one of its 186-seat Airbus A320neo aircraft. It also plans to launch a New Delhi-Guangzhou route shortly thereafter, although specific start dates have not yet been confirmed.
IndiGo CEO, Pieter Elbers, has been vocal in recent years in calling for the re-opening of the India-China air corridor, so was especially pleased to announce the resumption of non-stop flights:
“We are proud to be amongst the first to resume direct connectivity to China from two points in India. This will once again allow seamless movement of people, goods, and ideas, while also strengthening bilateral ties between two of the world’s most populous countries and fast-growing economies.”
Rapid Expansion On European Long-Haul Routes
IndiGo is also building out its new long-haul network to Europe at a rapid clip. Using Boeing 787-9s that it is leasing from Norse Atlantic, it began flights from Mumbai to Manchester and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport this past summer. Next week the Indian carrier will take it a step further when it begins non-stop 787 flights to Copenhagen. Not coincidentally, all three of these initial European destinations are hubs for SkyTeam airlines, following in the wake of Delta Air Lines, Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic announcing an extensive partnership with IndiGo over the summer.
This week it has become clear that IndiGo’s next two routes to Europe will be to the UK. Having secured 14 weekly slots at London Heathrow (seven arrivals and departures) via a winter lease from Virgin Atlantic, IndiGo plans to initiate daily flights from Mumbai starting on October 26. And then today it also started selling tickets for a four-times weekly 787 service from New Delhi to Manchester, beginning on November 15, effectively doubling its capacity to the northwest of England,
IndiGo’s long-haul growth will be somewhat constrained by the widebody aircraft it is able to lease over the next two years, while it awaits first deliveries in 2027 of the 60 Airbus A350-900s that it has on order. But it does have another string to its bow.
IndiGo is currently the largest customer for the long-range Airbus A321XLR, with 69 of the type on order. The first is expected to be delivered by the end of the year, and the airline has announced that Athens will be its first A321XLR destination, with three-times weekly flights from Mumbai and New Delhi from early January. Further A321XLR destinations to Europe will undoubtedly follow during the course of 2026.
First Direct Flights To Cambodia
IndiGo has also announced that it will be the first Indian carrier to operate non-stop flights to Cambodia, launching direct flights between its hub in Kolkata and Siem Reap starting November 13. Siem Reap is home to the renowned Angkor Wat temple complex, and a bucket list travel destination for millions of tourists each year. The route will operate three times weekly using the airline’s Airbus A320neo aircraft.
This continues IndiGo’s ongoing expansion into Southeast Asia, which has been spurred on by the rapid delivery of more than 150 A321neos in the past few years, including 31 frames so far this year. The carrier currently offers 14 routes to Thailand, nine to Singapore, four to Malaysia and two to Vietnam. Later this year it will also be starting non-stop flights to the popular tourist destinations of Bali in Indonesia and Krabi in Thailand.