IndiGo to fly to Manchester and Amsterdam in inaugural European operations
March 7, 2025
In what it describes as “a major milestone with its long-haul debut,” IndiGo has announced direct flights to Manchester and Amsterdam from July 2025 to mark the start of its European services.
The airline’s inaugural long-haul destinations “are steps towards inching closer to realising our shared vision to build India into a global aviation hub,” explained IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers. “India has strong ties both with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands for business and tourism, and there is a large Indian diaspora who live in these countries. These new flights will benefit both our existing and potential customers who fly on these routes”. The service to Manchester will be the only direct route from India to the north of the UK.
IndiGo added that “over the past two years, [it] has been already building its brand presence in Europe through multiple codeshare partnerships connecting several European cities to India”. These include partnerships with Turkish Airlines, Air France-KLM and British Airways.
Both direct thrice-weekly services will be operated by four damp-leased 787-9s from Norse Atlantic Airways, the first of which entered IndiGo service on the daily Delhi-Bangkok route last month. Three more units are set to arrive in the latter half of 2025, allowing an “early entry into the long-haul market” preceding IndiGo’s delivery of A321XLRs and A350-900s from 2027.
With the arrival of the additional leased 787s, IndiGo noted it could grow the frequencies of its international flights in the future, as well as “evaluating multiple other important markets across Europe to further expand its long-haul footprint”. The carrier concluded it intends to “become a global player by 2030”.
