Undeterred by Pakistan’s decision to close its airspace, airline major IndiGo is set to embark on its European expansion plan with ticket bookings for its new flights to Amsterdam and Manchester starting from next month, sources told businessline.
Accordingly, the low-cost carrier plans to initially operate these services from a key Indian city to these prominent European destinations as part of its expanding international network.
Sources told businessline, that the airline will keep a three-day and four-day schedule for its flights to Amsterdam and Manchester.
However, with the recent closure of Pakistan’s airspace, IndiGo is also considering adjustments to its flight operations.
Last week, the airline had said in a statement that due to the closure of Pakistan’s airspace, “circa 50 international routes operated by it will require longer sectors and hence may be subject to some slight schedule adjustments”.
“With the same restrictions and limited rerouting options, unfortunately Almaty and Tashkent are outside the operational range of IndiGo’s current fleet. Hence, flights to Almaty stand cancelled from the 27th of April until at least the 7th of May and to Tashkent from the 28th of April until the 7th of May, 2025,” the airline said.
Notwithstanding the current challenges, the airline has several options to bypass Pakistan’s airpace.
“The airline may implement a strategy similar to its operations from Kolkata to Vietnam,” sources told businessline.
“IndiGo feeds those operations from flights originating from different destinations within India, which converge at Kolkata, and from their onwards passengers board flight to Vietnam.”
Alternatively, sources said that the airline can simply reroute its flight over the Arabian sea.
For its European operation, the airline plans to deploy its lone Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on these routes.
IndiGo has entered into a an agreement with Norse Atlantic Airways for the damp lease (leased aircraft accompanied by crew) of four Boeing 787-9 aircraft, out of which it has received one.
At present, the first 787 has been deployed on the Delhi-Bangkok route. The remaining aircraft are expected to arrive by the second half of 2025.
The enhanced partnership with Norse Atlantic Airways will help IndiGo to make strategic inroads and establish the brand in the European market, the airline’s Chief Executive Pieter Elbers had earlier said.
“As we execute our broader strategy to strengthen and extend our international network, we are steadily advancing towards our vision of becoming a global player by 2030, firmly rooted in India and driven by continuous expansion,” he was quoted as saying in a statement.
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