India's IndiGo to make first push into US via Delta and partners

Fast-growing Indian airline IndiGo will offer some of its first itineraries to the U.S. this summer under a new pact with Delta Air Lines and its European partners.

Beginning in July, IndiGo will sell connecting flights to the U.S. via Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport (AMS) and Manchester Airport (MAN) in the U.K. on Delta, KLM and Virgin Atlantic Airways. The new partnership coincides with the launch of IndiGo's new nonstops to AMS and MAN from Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM).

The partnership isn't completely reciprocal — IndiGo will sell seats on Delta, KLM and Virgin flights, but not vice versa — and does not include a loyalty tie-up. But IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers suggested it's only the beginning.

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IndiGo is "on our way to become a global aviation giant," said Elbers at the aviation trade group IATA's annual meeting in Delhi on Sunday.

Elbers did not say what U.S. destinations the new partnership will cover. Delta and KLM serve 18 U.S. cities from Amsterdam, including Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C.; Delta and Virgin serve four cities from Manchester, including Atlanta and Orlando, schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows.

The largest airline you've never heard of

IndiGo was the eighth largest airline, in terms of both flights and seats, in the world last year, according to Cirium schedules. That's larger than many better known global brands, including British Airways, Emirates and Lufthansa.

The airline has more than 400 aircraft — almost entirely Airbus A320-family planes — and another 900-plus on order, IndiGo financial statements and Airbus' Orders and Deliveries database show.

Most American fliers, however, are probably unfamiliar with IndiGo. Its route map currently only extends west to Istanbul and east to Hong Kong.

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IndiGo is, first and foremost, a domestic Indian airline. Or, as their slogan puts it, "India by IndiGo."

But, as Elbers said, that is changing. The airline has 60 Airbus A350-900s on order — including 30 it announced Sunday at the IATA meeting — that it plans to debut on long-haul routes like those to Amsterdam and Manchester. The first A350 is due in 2027.

IndiGo's first two European routes will be flown with six Boeing 787s under a "damp lease" from Norway's Norse Atlantic Airways. Under a damp lease, Norse will provide the planes and pilots, and IndiGo the flight attendants. The carrier currently already serves Istanbul with three Boeing 777s damp leased from Turkish Airlines.

However, reports indicate that IndiGo must end its tie up with Turkish by the end of August. That would make Delta, KLM and Virgin Atlantic its only option to get travelers to the U.S.

IndiGo also has orders for the longer-range variant of the Airbus A321neo, the A321XLR, that it will use to expand its map to Africa, East Asia and Eastern Europe.

IndiGo's new Delta pact

"I think we've passed the stage of dating but we're not at the stage of marriage," Elbers said when asked if the airline's new pact with Air France, Delta, KLM and Virgin was a step towards a closer tie-up.

IndiGo already has limited agreements with Air France, KLM and Virgin. The European airlines connect travelers to IndiGo's domestic India flights via their shared gateway airports in the country, including Kempegowda International Airport (BLR) in Bengaluru, Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) in Delhi, and BOM.

The new pact builds on those agreements and adds Delta to the mix by extending IndiGo's reach to the U.S.

Elbers did not comment on IndiGo's partnership with American Airlines that, like Air France, KLM and Virgin, feed connecting travelers onto IndiGo's domestic flights in Delhi.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian was bullish on a closer tie-up.

"Just as we have a very deep and very close partnership with Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic, I contemplate that we'll be just as close with IndiGo as well," he said Sunday at the IATA meeting.

Elbers is no stranger to the Air France-KLM, Delta and Virgin confab. He was CEO of KLM from 2014 to 2022 when he left to take the job at IndiGo.

Opportunity for a loyalty tie-up

One aspect of a deeper IndiGo-Delta tie-up would be a partnership between Air France-KLM's Flying Blue, Delta's SkyMiles and Virgin's Flying Club loyalty programs and IndiGo's BluChip program.

BluChip has amassed more than 3 million members since it launched in late last year, Elbers said. It is on track to grow to 5-6 million members by the end of 2025.

"Connecting loyalty programs is not an easy thing to do but … the well-established and long-term loyalty programs of Air France-KLM, Virgin and Delta provides a great opportunity," he said. "Give us a bit of time to make sure our own loyalty program is up and running first."

Delta could return to India under a deeper partnership

"Candidly, there's not a more important market in aviation at the present time than India," said Bastian.

Delta left India in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when it suspended its daily nonstop between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and BOM. Then, following the retirement of its Boeing 777s during the crisis, was unable to resume flights when demand travel returned.

"We look forward to bringing our service back to [India] that we will be doing over the next couple years," said Bastian, who declined to elaborate.

Delta has 20 A350-1000s on order that will allow it to add longer routes, like ones to India nonstop from the U.S. The first of these planes is due in 2026.

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