IndiGo starts bookings of flights to Manchester and Amsterdam from Mumbai

IndiGo has steadily grown its international footprint, mainly focusing on short-haul destinations in Asia and the Middle East. With its first direct flights to Western Europe, the airline is now tapping into the high-demand India-Europe market, which has traditionally been dominated by full-service airlines.

India’s largest low-cost airline, IndiGo, on May 21 opened bookings of its international network with direct flights to Amsterdam and Manchester starting from July 2025, the airline said in a press statement.

The airline on May 21 opened bookings for flights on first-ever long-haul route connecting Mumbai with Manchester (United Kingdom) and Mumbai to Amsterdam for flights starting from July 1 and July 2nd, respectively.

This move marks a major shift in the airline’s strategy as it enters the long-haul sector, positioning itself to compete with established international carriers. IndiGo said that the airlines will offer complimentary hot meals and beverages to all customers on these route.

The airline will use its newly damp leased Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft from Norse Atlantic Airways to operate thrice weekly flights on the both routes.

With the launch of flights to Manchester IndiGo will become the only airline offering a direct connection between India and northern UK. Manchester has a significant Indian diaspora of nearly 500,000 people within a two-hour travel radius, making it a strong market for both leisure and business travel. This route will revive a connection last seen when Jet Airways briefly operated between India and Manchester in 2018-2019.

IndiGo, with its new flights to Amsterdam, will enter a competitive space, as KLM and Air India currently operate multiple daily flights between Amsterdam and Delhi. KLM also runs twice-daily services to Mumbai, alongside operations by China Airlines and Cathay Pacific. However, IndiGo’s codeshare agreement with KLM will allow passengers to seamlessly connect across Europe.

IndiGo said that the wide-body aircraft will boasts a spacious double-aisle design, featuring 56 IndiGoStretch seats in a comfortable 2x3x2 configuration, with an impressive 43-inch seat pitch. Furthermore, the economy class offers 282 seats in a 3x3x3 configuration, offering a generous 31-inch seat pitch for a comfortable travel experience, the airline said.

IndiGo has steadily grown its international footprint, mainly focusing on short-haul destinations in Asia and the Middle East. With its first direct flights to Western Europe, the airline is now tapping into the high-demand India-Europe market, which has traditionally been dominated by full-service airlines.

IndiGo has announced that tickets for its flights from Mumbai to Manchester will start at Rs 24,499, while tickets for its flights from Mumbai to Amsterdam will start at Rs 26,999.

Currently operating a fleet of over 400 aircraft, IndiGo has over 900 aircraft on order, making it one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines. To support its expansion, IndiGo has secured a wet lease agreement with Norse Atlantic Airways for Boeing 787-9 aircraft, which will be deployed for long-haul operations until its own 30 Airbus A350-900s start arriving in 2027.

The India-Europe air travel market has seen record-breaking growth in recent years. In January 2025, seat capacity surged 10 percent above pre-pandemic levels, while annual capacity in 2024 increased by 18 percent year-on-year, reaching 11.5 million seats.

Despite this expansion, India-Europe connectivity still lags behind other major markets. In summer 2025, there will be 229,000 weekly seats on this corridor—just 53 percent of the India-China capacity, despite both countries having comparable populations of 1.4 billion.

Currently, 16 airlines operate between India and Europe, down from 18 in 2024. Air India leads the market with a 30.2 percent share, followed by Lufthansa (14.3 percent) and British Airways (12.4 percent). IndiGo ranks fourth with an 8.8 percent share, a sign of its growing international influence.

IndiGo is likely to take delivery of its first Airbus A321XLR aircraft, the longest-range single-aisle aircraft in the world, in 2025, which will allow the airline to fly directly to western European and far-eastern countries from India.

The new aircraft will have dual-class configuration and will help IndiGo operate nonstop flights of up to 4,700 nautical miles or 8,700 km, which will help the airline fly directly from Indian airports to London, Amsterdam, Paris, Tokyo and Perth. The planes in the airline's current fleet, mainly A320ceo, A320neo, A321neo and ATR aircraft, can fly a maximum of 7,200 km without refuelling.

The new aircraft will play a major part in IndiGo's international expansion plans in 2025, as the airline is looking to expand its services in the international market and is currently in talks with multiple airports for direct services from the Indira Gandhi International Airport.