IndiGo launched long-haul Boeing 787-9 operations in July 2025, initially intending to launch from Delhi but moving to Mumbai at the last minute. Subsequently, the airline launched ops from Delhi as well; however, the unavailability of Pakistan Airspace is causing some squeeze, which is prompting the airline to rethink.
IndiGo’s Boeing 787-9 Operations so far.
IndiGo currently operates a four-times-weekly service between Mumbai and Manchester, which was its first flight launched with the Norse Atlantic 787-9. You can read our first impressions of the flight here. From there, it launched the Mumbai-Amsterdam service, which is now daily. IndiGo operates a thrice-weekly long-haul route from Mumbai to Copenhagen. IndiGo has also launched a daily Mumbai-London Heathrow service. Lastly, IndiGo launched flights between Delhi and Manchester in November 2025, operating four times a week. And from there, IndiGo launched a Delhi-London Heathrow service in February 2026 (on the first day of the month).
IndiGo to rejig operations of the 787-9 Wet Lease Fleet
IndiGo has announced adjustments and schedule revisions to its long-haul network. IndiGo says the widebody operation has faced external operational constraints, including continuously changing airspace restrictions due to geopolitical circumstances and airport congestion in India and abroad. These factors significantly increased flight and block times, straining the airline’s 787-9 schedule, which is operated with six wide-body aircraft. To avoid inconveniences to customers due to misconnections and cascading delays, IndiGo has decided to take immediate measures to restore operational reliability, including on-time performance, for its widebody operations.
Basis thorough review of all the above factors, the airline will introduce the following changes to its wide-body network.
- Starting February 17, 2026, IndiGo will suspend its operations to and from Copenhagen till further notice.
- From February 7, 2026, IndiGo will reduce its Delhi – Manchester services from 5 flights per week to 4, and further reduce to 3 from February 19, 2026; thus reducing its total connectivity to/from Manchester from 9 weekly to 7 weekly services. This scale adjustment was originally planned for the Summer Schedule 2026; however, it is being implemented earlier to ensure reliability across the rest of IndiGo’s long-haul operations. To ensure optimal recovery time availability in operating patterns, the days of operation will also be adjusted as follows.
- With effect from February 9, 2026, IndiGo’s Delhi–London Heathrow services will be reduced from 5x weekly to 4x weekly for the current Winter Schedule. The airline launched these flights on February 1, 2026.
IndiGo is reaching out to the affected customers to offer alternative flights or issue timely refunds and compensation as per the applicable rules.
In all of this, IndiGo has freed up one aircraft with six-times-a-week capacity to launch a new route to a new destination.
IndiGo’s timeline to induct the A350 slips into 2028
IndiGo, when it announced the order for the A350-900 aircraft, said it would induct them into the fleet in 2027. Now that timeline seems to have moved to 2028, as per an innocent wording in the statement issued by IndiGo on the reduction of the Europe network.
Bottomline
IndiGo seems to be having trouble with Pakistani and Iranian airspace, so it is reducing flights to Manchester and London Heathrow from Delhi in February 2026 and onward. The airline has also cut the Copenhagen route altogether, which, to me, seems more like a commercial decision than one driven by airspace unavailability.
What do you make of IndiGo’s reorganisation of its 787-9 network?
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So they expect Pakistan airspace to remain closed? Is there any chatter about when the industry expects it to be opened? (I certainly haven’t heard of any, and this news doesn’t indicate anything soon).
B-LRQ, it is a one-way thing by them, so of course, there won’t be discussions around it.
India is paying a very high price for the “electoral” agression against Pakistan last year (jet fighters lost, high costs for Indian airlines – mainly Air India -, etc. etc.). No negotiations in sight ?
No price is too big when it comes to national security. And gain from abolishing IWT is not calculated in your ‘analysis’