Delhi-based low-cost airline IndiGo has finally confirmed that it will operate in Amsterdam and Manchester starting in July of this year. The flights are to be operated three times a week. The airline has not yet revealed the names of the cities from which these two destinations in India will be connected. Incidentally, Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo, was the CEO of KLM before joining as IndiGo’s CEO. He was CEO of KLM from 2014 till he was appointed IndiGo’s CEO in 2022 (IndiGo Leadership Team - Know more of IndiGo Leaders | IndiGo) The airline is also evaluating multiple other important markets across Europe to expand its long-haul footprint. With the arrival of additional aircraft from Norse later this year, the frequencies could further grow (to Amsterdam and Manchester). On February 25 this year, Pieter Elbers confirmed entry into Europe from mid-summer (IndiGo confirms entry into Europe later this year |) “We are thrilled to announce our first-ever long-haul destinations - Manchester and Amsterdam. India has strong ties both with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands for business and tourism; and there is a large Indian diaspora who live in these countries,” the CEO added. Earlier this year, IndiGo entered into a damp lease agreement with Norse Atlantic Airways for a Boeing 787-9 aircraft, which was inducted into operations on March 1, 2025. Recently, the agreement was expanded to include the damp lease of three additional aircraft, scheduled to join the fleet towards the second half of this year. Collectively, these aircraft will enable IndiGo to enter the long-haul market early and establish itself in Europe. At the same time, the airline awaits the delivery of its Airbus A321XLR and A350-900 aircraft from 2027 onwards, the airline said in a statement. What could be the reasons for Amsterdam and Manchester? A Statistics Netherlands survey released on March 5 this year shows that migrants from India are more likely to remain in the Netherlands longer than in previous years. Over 56 percent of Indian people who came to the Netherlands in 2019 were still residents four years later. Among those who arrived in the Netherlands in 2011, a smaller share of 33 percent were still in the Netherlands after four years. People of Indian origin live mainly in the Randstad conurbation in the west of the country and in Eindhoven (Migrants from India are staying longer in the Netherlands | CBS) Most migrants from India come to the Netherlands for work, family reunification, or to start a family. In 2023, 45 percent of immigrants indicated that family was their main reason for migrating, while 40 percent came here for work and 15 percent came to study. In 2013, there were more labor migrants (49 percent) than family migrants (37 percent). Indian labor migrants are often knowledge migrants and frequently work in the IT sector, the Statistics Netherlands survey adds. Until the early 2000s, the number of migrants from India was small. Before 2005, between 600 and 1,000 Indian people came to the Netherlands each year. Some of these later emigrated, and in terms of net migration, the number of Indian people in the Netherlands rose by 300 per year on average. From 2005 to 2020, migration from India increased rapidly, with a short dip after the financial crisis of 2008. Due to the measures taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus, migration from India fell significantly in 2020, after which it rose rapidly. The most significant number of Indian migrants was seen in 2022, at 11,000. After 2022, migration from India to the Netherlands declined for two consecutive years, and emigration increased. Net migration estimates indicate that the Indian population in the Netherlands will increase by 4,000 in 2024. Manchester In 2021, Indians, at 31,030, were the second largest among 189 countries listed as staying in the Greater Manchester area (census-2021-briefing_ethnicity_final-v5.pdf). The ethnic minority population of Greater Manchester stood at an estimated 821,801 in 2021, equating to 28.7 percent of the total population, slightly above the England average of 26.5 percent. Nearly half of Greater Manchester’s ethnic minority population in 2021 was Asian (47.4 percent, equating to 389,283 people). It is possible that the ethnic population in Greater Manchester also includes citizens of Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan who could take the newly started IndiGo flight before connecting to other flights from Indian airports to their own country. Due to the frosty relations between India and Pakistan and no direct air connectivity between the two neighbors, the soon-to-start IndiGo will not be an option for people of Pakistani origin who formed the largest ethnic group staying in Greater Manchester in 2021. View of competing airline head Commenting on the decision of IndiGo to launch long-haul operations, the head of a foreign airline in India felt that the airline has come up with “a very sound strategy” as the Indian airline is now to connect to all the hubs of international airlines with whom they have an interline strategy. “What IndiGo is trying to do is feed into those passenger hubs so that passengers can fly say to Amsterdam and fly to all points in Europe with KLM and Air France or to the US. Likewise if they go to Japan Haneda airport they will be able to connect to US West Coast,” the airline head felt adding that in the case of Amsterdam Air India might have missed the bus. The person declined to be identified as the international airline he represents does not permit him to talk to the media.
