William 'Willie' Walsh, IndiGo's new chief executive officer, has identified the induction of the Airbus A350 as the key milestone for the airline to expand overseas operations profitably over the next five years. Speaking at the 23rd annual general meeting of InterGlobe Aviation, Walsh told shareholders that the successful introduction of these aircraft will facilitate the airline's ambition to expand international operations in a profitable way. The strategy was outlined at the AGM on Thursday, with Chairman Vikram Singh Mehta emphasizing that India's 'massive long-haul' market remained underserved and that Indian carriers must capture outbound wealth currently dominated by foreign carriers.
IndiGo has firm orders for 60 Airbus A350-900 aircraft, with deliveries scheduled from next year. The A350-900 aircraft can carry 300 to 350 passengers in a standard three-class seating configuration and has an average range of 8,500 nautical miles (15,700km). With these planes, IndiGo can fly non-stop from Delhi and Mumbai to destinations including North America's east coast and Midwest; all major hubs in Europe; Australia and New Zealand, and Seoul and Tokyo. The airline currently operates flights to over 35 destinations in West Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, Europe, and Africa. IndiGo expects international flights to reach about 40% of its overall capacity by FY30, from roughly 30% currently.
IndiGo currently has no widebody aircraft, although it has six of them on lease from Norse Atlantic Airways. Its own fleet consists of more than 400 narrowbody Airbus jets, including the A320neo family aircraft and A321XLRs, as well as ATRs. Rival Air India is the only carrier with widebody planes for long-haul flights, consisting of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Boeing 777s and Airbus A350-900s. In an April BBC interview, Walsh had called it a 'scandal' that India had only about 50 widebody aircraft given the country's size, stating the fleet 'should be much bigger'.
Walsh has taken charge at a difficult time for Indian aviation, with IndiGo and Air India—the two have a combined domestic market share of 90%—reporting losses in FY26. IndiGo reported a net loss of about ₹2,400 crore, while Air India reported a loss of more than ₹22,000 crore. The airline faced significant operational disruption in December when over 4,000 flights were cancelled, leaving lakhs of passengers stranded. Walsh has spent his early weeks focusing on remedial action, including strengthening employee planning and rostering, introducing duty guardrails and a dedicated crisis-management structure, and adding real-time monitoring systems.
In July, IndiGo said it would discontinue its Boeing 787-9 operations and end its damp-lease agreement with Norway's Norse Atlantic Airways from October-end. The Norse withdrawal represents a pause, rather than a retreat, from its long-haul plans, with Walsh reiterating the strategy at the AGM. After the Norse programme, Mumbai-Amsterdam will continue with an A321XLR, while IndiGo will suspend its London Heathrow services until the A350s arrive. Walsh stressed that expansion would have to preserve IndiGo's cost advantage, stating the airline must remain focused on profitable development of its long-haul network.
