On Friday evening (Oct 03), IndiGo announced the launch of multiple flights from Delhi which included a four times a week service to Krabi, a second frequency to Bangkok, a Delhi – Bali service with a tech stop in Bhubaneshwar and direct flights to Manchester, seeing the return of the Norse Atlantic Wet/Damp lease 787-9 dreamliner back to Delhi, from where it operated to Bangkok from March until June before moving to Mumbai to start flights to Amsterdam and Manchester.
IndiGo will increase frequency of flights to Manchester from both Delhi and Mumbai, even before the Delhi operations are live. The Delhi – Manchester route will see 5x weekly frequencies while Mumbai – Manchester will increase from 3x to 4x weekly.
The damp leased aircraft see the cockpit crew being provided by Norse Atlantic, along with the maintenance and Insurance. While Insurance may not have a direct impact on day to day operations, Crew and Maintenance sure do. Thus, the first aircraft had six days of operations, spending a day in Amsterdam to fulfil the maintenance requirements. IndiGo will induct a total of six Dreamliners until March and for a student of Network Planning, how the planes are rotated, how maintenance slots are planned along with other operational nuances is a treat to see. A look at the schedule for Manchester made me wonder about how the aircraft is being rotated and my measured calculations showed a change in Day of Week for Mumbai – Manchester operations. The airline has now made this change in the booking engine.
IndiGo will launch flights between Delhi and Manchester starting November 15, 2025. IndiGo will operate this route four times a week, while continuing the Mumbai – Manchester operations thrice a week, with a change in day of operation. The timings would be as below,
6E033 DEL0405 – 0930MAN Mon, Tue, Thu, Sat
6E034 MAN1115 – 0210(+1)DEL Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun
Flights from Mumbai will operate as below
6E031 BOM0430 – 0915MAN Wed, Fri, Sun
6E032 MAN1140 – 0215(+1)BOM Tue, Thu, Sat
There is a change in Day of Operations on Mumbai – Manchester, which operates on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays currently and does so until mid-November, after which the departures shift to Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
On Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays; the aircraft will be in Mumbai where it could swap with the other aircraft which would operate to Amsterdam and Copenhagen. Over a period of time, the airline could either add frequency to Amsterdam from Delhi, subject to slots or add Copenhagen – Delhi flights rotating the aircraft the same way as the one to Manchester. If the airline bags slots for all seven days at Amsterdam, logically things move in favor of Amsterdam.
Manchester isn’t exactly the hub of Indian origin people, but the city and the region has growing business ties along with a gateway to Leeds and Liverpool. Manchester is one of the top unserved destinations from India and has had its share of bad luck with Jet Airways not being able to sustain its operations from Mumbai with the A330 and Virgin Atlantic not being able to launch flights to Delhi due to the pandemic. This will be the case of being third time lucky, with IndiGo’s cost structure significantly better than Jet Airways and the airline now opting to connect two major points from India, even when the route between Delhi and Manchester would have challenges due to Pakistani airspace closure if it continues in November.
Network Thoughts
IndiGo’s Manchester ambitions are old. The airline had filed slots for Manchester for A330 operations, which did not materialise due to the pandemic. IndiGo of today is very different from that of pre-pandemic days.
IndiGo would aim to make Manchester a niche market for itself, guarding against competition; something on the lines of how Air India has created a niche for itself with Birmingham. With tighter rotations, a recovery from diversion or weather would be the most challenging thing for IndiGo as it starts Delhi – Europe operations at the onset of winter in Delhi.
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