IndiGo builds flexibility into its growth strategy, says CEO Pieter Elbers

As IndiGo expands across longer-haul, regional international and domestic markets, how is the airline redefining its growth priorities and positioning itself over the next six to 12 months?

IndiGo is going through a phase of growth and development; defining a new category and becoming a fit-to-purpose airline. We are evolving as a brand, retaining our hallmark of efficiency, simplicity and affordability, yet broadening our product portfolio, as we scale up, to match our customers’ varied expectations across different flight categories and routes on our network. Customers’ expectations on an eight-to-10-hour journey is starkly different from what they want on a two-hour domestic flight or a five-hour, regional international flight.

This evolution becomes even more important as we progress further on our internationalisation journey, especially with our long-haul expansion.

How is IndiGo evolving its product and service offering to cater to customers across different journey lengths and market segments?

Today, in addition to our proven economy class, we offer the convenience of IndiGoStretch – our tailor-made business product designed for added comfort, more benefits and privacy. We introduced BluChip, our loyalty programme, to reward our loyal customers. On our long-haul flights, we have elevated the passenger experience with the introduction of complimentary hot meals, alcoholic beverages and thoughtfully-curated amenities onboard. All these product enhancements and diversification are primarily rooted in our understanding of how we can make air travel more convenient.

How is fleet expansion and diversification supporting IndiGo’s transformation as it builds scale and deepens its international footprint?

Another key pillar of this transformation journey is fleet expansion and diversification. Last year, we introduced the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft in our fleet, taken on wet/damp lease from Norse Atlantic Airways, which enabled us to launch and expand our first few long-haul offerings – Manchester, Amsterdam, London Heathrow and Copenhagen.

The lease arrangements are helping us in gaining invaluable operational insights into wide body operations, particularly around turnaround time management, on-board service delivery, and customer expectations for long-haul travel, before our Airbus A350-900s start arriving from 2028 onwards, enabling deeper international penetration across continents.  

Recently, we took delivery of India’s first A321XLR, enabling the connectivity from Mumbai and Delhi to Athens, Greece. The extended-range capability of this new-generation aircraft will allow us to tap into several strategic markets across Europe and East Asia.

This transformation story is anchored in several additional strategic milestones, including deepening codeshare partnerships, developing hubs, scaling cargo, strengthening ancillary services and more. 

We are also moving towards greater aircraft ownership, and building a world-class 12-bay MRO facility in Bengaluru, in addition to the existing facilities in Delhi and Bengaluru.

As we launch new routes and integrate additional aircraft into the fleet, we are equally focused on ensuring that our systems, processes, and people are well prepared to support this growth sustainably.

Ultimately, the challenges and the opportunities lie in balancing ambition with execution. As India’s aviation market expands rapidly, our responsibility is to grow in a disciplined manner, stay true to our purpose of giving wings to the nation, and continue contributing towards India’s ambition of becoming a global aviation hub.

In a dynamic operating environment marked by supply-chain disruptions and geopolitical constraints, how does IndiGo build flexibility and resilience into its network strategy?

As our fleet continues to grow, flexibility is built into how we plan our network. Our fleet strategy, which includes progressive addition of narrow-body aircraft such as the A321XLR alongside leased wide-body Boeing 787s, allows us to respond to demand across different markets while remaining aligned with our long-term plans.

How does IndiGo plan aircraft deployment and network decisions amid regulatory, geopolitical and operational uncertainty?

Today, we operate in a very dynamic environment that has several variables – natural, social, geopolitics-related and more. We, therefore, plan with optionality, ensuring that aircraft deployment decisions remain grounded in regulatory framework, demand patterns and operational readiness for foreseeable changes in the operating environment.

Our broader priority remains to build a stable and sustainable network that delivers convenient and affordable service to our customers.