From metro to heartland: IndiGo's growth puts 90% of India on its aviation map

For long-haul operations, IndiGo is damp-leasing six wide-body Boeing 787-9 aircraft from Norway's Norse Atlantic Airways.

IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers is bullish on India’s aviation story. However, he has one key caveat in the game plan. For the next stop in India’s aviation story, Elbers says the focus should not be on adding new airports, but on building bigger, smoother airports.

In an interview with the business daily Mint, the IndiGo CEO said that the largest growth the airline has seen is from metro to non-metro areas. On the growth spree India has witnessed in the last few years, Elbers noted that the Indian landscape in terms of the number of tiers is constantly evolving.

Today, 90 percent of the Indian population lives within 100 km of an IndiGo-served airport, Elbers told the Mint. At the same time, the IndiGo CEO added that the diversity within those 100 km poses a challenge. Therefore, Elbers believes the next step for India’s aviation will be to have better, smoother airports.

IndiGo, India's largest airline with a domestic market share of 64 percent, is fast expanding its overseas reach with new routes and partnerships.

With a fleet of more than 400 planes, IndiGo flies to over 90 domestic and 40 overseas destinations, with the latest additions being the start of services to Manchester and Amsterdam on July 1 and 2, respectively.

For long-haul operations, IndiGo is damp-leasing six wide-body Boeing 787-9 aircraft from Norway's Norse Atlantic Airways.

The airline is set to induct long-range narrow-body A321XLR planes by the end of this year or early 2026, and this aircraft will allow the carrier to add destinations like Athens, Elbers had told PTI in an earlier interview.