IndiGo Signs Deals For More Widebodies and International Codeshares

NEW DELHI—IndiGo has announced some significant moves to boost its international operation, with a follow-on order for Airbus A350s and a new partnership deal to increase its connecting opportunities.

The airline has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Airbus to convert 30 more A350 options to firm orders. This would give the carrier a total of 60 firm orders for A350s, following an earlier order last year.

The A350s in the initial order are due to be delivered starting in 2027, continuing through the early part of the next decade, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said during a media briefing at the IATA Annual General Meeting here on June 1. Aircraft from the follow-up order are expected to begin arriving after the initial order has been completed, and these deliveries are expected to extend into the second half of the next decade, Elbers said.

IndiGo has 917 aircraft on firm order, not counting the latest deal, according to the Aviation Week Network Fleet Discovery database. All are narrowbodies, aside from 30 A350s.

IndiGo has also signed an MOU for a new partnership deal with Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic that will enable it to connect to their international services when IndiGo launches Western European flights in July.

The arrangement will see IndiGo codeshare on the three airlines’ flights from Amsterdam and Manchester, England, which will be IndiGo’s first routes to Western Europe. The partnership will include KLM flights from Amsterdam to 30 European destinations, Delta and KLM routes to the U.S. and Canada and Virgin Atlantic flights from Manchester to the U.S.

IndiGo has had codeshare agreements in place since 2022 with Virgin Atlantic and Air France-KLM, giving the European carriers access to IndiGo’s domestic network. Those agreements will be expanded under the latest MOU; Delta is being added as a new partner.

Elbers signaled that there are no plans yet to merge IndiGo’s new loyalty program with those of the three other carriers. IndiGo launched its loyalty program in November and wants to make sure it is well established before considering linking it to other programs, he said.

Delta does not serve India with its own aircraft, but it intends to resume service to India in the next few years, Bastian said. He noted that the partnership with IndiGo is a big factor in its decision to return to India. “There is not a more important market in aviation at the present time than India,” Bastian said.