IndiGo introduces flights to Central Asia and Africa with a focus on the US

The largest airline in India, IndiGo, has begun to implement its aggressive international expansion strategy and will now offer 174 more weekly flights between June and September 2023 to destinations in Africa and Central Asia.

Also, the carrier will begin offering access to North America through a codeshare agreement with Turkish Airlines. With the codeshare agreement, it now provides access via Istanbul to 33 locations in Europe.

After receipt of the necessary regulatory permissions, IndiGo will shortly offer connectivity to North America as part of its codeshare agreement with Turkish Airlines, according to the airline.

Flying under a codeshare agreement enables one airline to advertise flights run by another. The arrangement gives travellers access to a wider variety of locations. Even if a different airline actually performs the operation, the ticket will be issued under the flight number of the carrier selected at the time of purchase.

In late July or early August, the airline will offer direct flights from Mumbai to Jakarta, Indonesia, connecting Nairobi, Kenya, and Jakarta. From August on, it will link Delhi to Almaty in Kazakhstan, Tashkent in Uzbekistan, Baku in Azerbaijan, and Tbilisi in Georgia all at once.

According to IndiGo, the execution of this international growth is a crucial component of the airline's strategy to cross new boundaries under CEO Pieter Elbers, who joined IndiGo ten months ago after serving for a considerable amount of time as the leader of Netherlands flag carrier KLM.

After a three-year absence, it will also start running daily services from Delhi to Hong Kong in August.

"...will assist us in extending our reach across all four continents, with the initial forays into Africa and Central Asia. In addition to our current network of 78 domestic destinations, this expansion will allow us to immediately reach 32 overseas destinations (up from 26) "Elbers declared.

During the next months, Indigo also wants to strengthen its foothold in the Middle East by linking Dammam with Lucknow, Chennai, and Kochi, Abu Dhabi with Goa, Lucknow, and Ahmedabad, Ras Al Khaimah with Hyderabad, Bahrain with Kochi, and Jeddah with Ahmedabad. Separately, IndiGo will increase the frequency of its August service between Mumbai and Dhaka.

From June 2023, the airline will also start operating unique flights from Bhubaneshwar to Singapore and Bangkok.

According to three people familiar with the situation, Mint reported in April that IndiGo has also been in discussions with aircraft manufacturers about purchasing up to 20 wide-body aircraft as it looks to expand its overseas operations.

The airline connects 78 local and 26 overseas destinations with about 1800 daily flights through its fleet of nearly 300 aircraft. According to information from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, as of April, the airline controlled 57.5% of the domestic aviation market.