First Impressions: IndiGo’s Long Haul flight to Manchester

As you know, it has been exactly two weeks now that IndiGo launched its new flights, its first International long-haul product, which currently flies between Mumbai and Manchester/ Amsterdam Schiphol on alternate days. I was on the first flight (Mumbai to Manchester), which brought me to Manchester. IndiGo will launch more of these flights as it gets more of its wet lease aircraft inducted from Norse Atlantic Airways in the coming days, and will (perhaps) make these daily flights, and then head to Copenhagen and London (Gatwick or Heathrow, unknown for now).

The Boeing 787-9 from Norse is a stop-gap measure for IndiGo, for the next 18 months, while it waits for the first of their own 60 Airbus A350-900s to arrive in its fleet. But it was also the start of a new era of IndiGo’s hybridisation, where we will see a lot more “different” things than what we are used to. While a full trip report will take some time to write, I wanted to put out some initial thoughts on what IndiGo got right and what is different compared to their earlier model we all know about.

Well-padded seats & a respectable business class

The aircraft IndiGo is using is not its own. So they don’t have too much choice concerning class of service and so on, there are only two: Economy and Stretch. I suspect there will be a three-class service when IndiGo launches services on its own A350 aircraft. But that is just me and my thoughts.

Anyhow, the seat is good. On the back of the plane, you have a decently padded seat in a 3-3-3 configuration, with a USB-A and IFE screen included. I tried out the seat, but it was the middle of the night, and the windows were dark, so I couldn’t get a picture. This is from the Norse Atlantic website.

In Stretch, IndiGo has enhanced a Premium Economy seat by improving the soft product and charging appropriately. This is not your ordinary Premium Economy, nor is it your ordinary Business Class. There is a good recliner, with about 12 inches of recline. On both outbound and return, I managed about 3 hours of sleep on my 9-10 hour flight.

Hot meals

Each of these sectors receives two hot meals, one on each side of the trip, timed to coincide with the time of day. In Stretch, you even get a menu to look over what your options are. On the outgoing, there was a small Cannelloni (Veg) served to everyone in Stretch, followed by a main meal, a massive Chicken Parda Biryani, which IndiGo intends to make its Signature dish out of Mumbai. It was so big, I could only eat half before I asked for the tray table to be cleared.

Out of Mumbai, there are sufficient Indian touches, for instance, there was an Alu Parantha on the bread basket as well. Apart from Laccha Parantha.

The default meal for those who did not book one was a Vegetarian Indian Meal. On the way back, similarly, there was a Chicken Gravy Meal catered as the Indian Main (Non-Veg). Except, it does not come with Parantha, so one eats a Dinner Roll along. There was also a Lamb Option available as International Non-Veg, which looked nice, but I had already pre-selected Indian NV after the Stellar Biryani on the outbound leg.

Even in the Economy cabin, there are some good meals on offer. I managed to snap a picture of both the options being served on the return leg between Manchester and Mumbai. Both options were Indian meals, unless you ordered a special meal due to dietary restrictions.

The Business Class touches

IndiGo has tried to bring this product as close to Business Class as possible on board. There is an amenity basket where you can find items like eye shades, socks, earplugs, a dental kit, and more. No Amenity Kit Bag though.  In the Economy cabin, some of these products are on sale for a reasonable price.

Not just that, there are welcome drinks. Except these are not champagne and nuts, but it still is a nice touch. Outbound from India, only expect the Aam Panna and Apple Beetroot Carrot juices, but inbound into India, there is also the option of beer and canned wines.

Other touches include warm towels being distributed around the Business Cabin after takeoff and before arrival (although they only came out once on the way back into Mumbai).

Business Class Lounge

I was shocked when I first read that IndiGo was now going to engage with the Lounges. And then I thought they’d go for the lower-end lounge in Mumbai, but they went for the best there was (Adani West Lounge). Even though the lounge is a pale shadow of its GVK days, the meals are still good, and the lounge does a good job.

Even in Manchester, they picked one of the better lounges in the airport. There was a long queue to get in, but there were reserved seats for airline customers (including us).

Respectable Alcohol Options

I’m not a big drinker, but IndiGo has the bar open on their international segments for business class / Stretch customers. They have some very good choices in Stranger & Sons Gin, Amrut Whiskey and 4700 BC Nibbles to go along. Don’t expect a warm nuts ramekin to come along, though. I tried out their signature cocktail on the outgoing segments.

My complaint is that IndiGo is still pouring their soft drinks out of the bottle, and half the fizz of a Diet Coke is due to the pressurisation of the can. So, I stuck with water, and their amazing hot chocolate on board.

Overall, there is a lot to look forward to on IndiGo’s Stretch (and even the economy cabin), at the prices they are offering at the moment.

Bottomline

IndiGo has done some great work in uplifting a premium economy product to a business class product, and they underpromised and overdelivered, at least in the initial days. The seat is not a flatbed, but neither is the price. And all the inclusions for IndiGo Stretch make it closer to Business Class than to PE, along with a healthy sprinkling of IndiGo Quirk (such as the note on their paper napkins)

Have you flown IndiGo Stretch International? What do you think of it?

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