IndiGo doubles Airbus A350 commitment as it attempts to crack the low-cost long-haul conundrum
October 17, 2025
Indian low-cost legend IndiGo has firmed up its commitment for an additional 30 Airbus A350-900 aircraft, doubling its total order to 60 jets as it gears up for its entry into long-haul international operations.
The order converts a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in June 2025 into a firm contract.
“Today is a special day for IndiGo as we solidify our commitment to expanding our international footprint and offering unparalleled connectivity to our customers,” said Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo. “This firm order for 30 additional A350-900s is a testament to our confidence in the future of Indian aviation and our strategic partnership with Airbus.”
Moving into widebody operations is a major shift for IndiGo. To date, it has thrived on its extensive domestic network and the agile efficiency of the Airbus A320neo. Adding the A350 takes it into a whole new league, not just competing with Air India but with the dozens of foreign carriers flying into India from all over the world.
IndiGo’s massive gamble on low-cost long-haul
The world of low-cost long-haul flying is littered with the corpses of failed business plans.
Twenty years ago, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines was one of the first truly low-cost long-haul airlines. Flying Boeing 747s to London and Vancouver from Hong Kong, it took inspiration from the old Laker Airways and set out to help passengers travel further for less. However, it was never a success and ceased operations less than 18 months after launch.
More recently, collapses of other low-cost long-haul pioneers from WOW Air to Primera Air and XL Airways show that the challenge of these types of flights hasn’t gone away. While there are always contributing factors – fuel costs, late aircraft deliveries, pandemics – the bottom line has always been that trying to run a low-cost long-haul airline produces an excessively thin margin.
On paper, these types of flights do work; nobody starts an airline without crunching the numbers. But as soon as something goes wrong, those thin, precarious margins come back to bite.
Long-haul on a budget is tough. Just some of the factors at play include:
- Fuel costs: These account for up to 40% of long-haul expenses, so volatility can quickly erase margins.
- Aircraft utilisation: Widebodies can’t do multiple daily rotations like narrowbodies. Downtime hurts efficiency.
- Crew costs and rest regulations: Longer duty times require larger crew pools and hotel stays.
- Limited ancillaries: On a 10-hour flight, passengers expect meals, entertainment, and checked bags, reducing opportunities for extra revenue.
- Price elasticity: Long-haul travellers can be less price-sensitive and more service-conscious, narrowing budget airline appeal.
That’s not to say it can’t be made to work. Asian airline Scoot is a rare survivor of the low-cost long-haul market, but it is definitely helped by strong backing from its parent company, Singapore Airlines. IndiGo will go it alone.
Can Indigo make low-cost long-haul work?
There are a few things airlines like IndiGo can do to make low-cost long-haul a plausible business case.
First is adopting next-generation aircraft. Flying longer-haul routes with old and inefficient aircraft (such as SpiceJet’s Airbus A340) eats away at the profit margins. As much of the cost of a long-haul flight lies in fuel consumption, it makes sense to start from an efficient baseline.
Tapping into unserved and underserved markets is crucial; attempting to compete with established players will always be a tough ask. And having lower overheads and a lean cost structure is a must.
IndiGo is well ahead on all these points. Its firm order for 60 Airbus A350s will see it operating a significant fleet of some of the most efficient aircraft (per seat mile) in the world today. Its cost structure is among the lowest in the entire industry, even when compared with low-cost leaders like Ryanair and AirAsia.
But importantly, working in IndiGo’s favour is the huge amount of brand loyalty it has within India. It dominates the networks, giving people more options for flights, and can coordinate its own schedule to use its domestic network to feed its long-haul routes. This customer base is going to be crucial to the airline as it steps out of its comfort zone.
Tapping into overseas markets where established airlines are already operating will be more of a challenge. But IndiGo doesn’t really need foreign flyers: it flies from one of the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world, and is likely to see plenty of uptake from Indians alone.
Nevertheless, if it gets its price point right, it could well attract new passengers, converting a whole new geography of travellers into 6E fans.
IndiGo’s Airbus A350 is a new chapter for the airline
Elbers has previously framed the A350 as the aircraft that will “unlock India’s global potential”, enabling non-stop routes from major Indian hubs to destinations in Europe, North America and Australasia.
IndiGo is planning a two-class configuration, although it’s not known whether the business class will be fully lie flat, modern business or a premium economy-type recliner configuration. Sources suggest just 12 seats will be given over to the higher tier, while the bulk of the aircraft remains standard economy, in line with IndiGo’s model.
Full specifications of things like IFE, cabin layout and amenities have not yet been shared by the airline. No doubt, these details will be drip-fed over the coming months as the airline looks forward to its first delivery in 2027.
But although there’s a bit of a wait for the first IndiGo Airbus A350, the airline is already taking steps in its long-haul network. Since last year, it has been wet-leasing Boeing 787 Dreamliners from Norse Atlantic (another failed low-cost long-haul attempt) in order to begin flights to Europe.
It has already been flying to Manchester in the UK and Amsterdam with the Dreamliners, and is set to launch London Heathrow later this month.
Whether it can make these flights profitable remains to be seen.
