IndiGo Airlines

History

IndiGo was founded in 2005 by Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia as a low-cost carrier and began flying on 4 August 2006 with a single Airbus A320. Backed by large, disciplined aircraft orders and a lean operating model, it overtook rivals to become India's largest airline by passenger share by December 2012. Parent company InterGlobe Aviation listed on the National Stock Exchange of India in October 2015. The airline has continued rapid fleet and network expansion since, while weathering an industry-wide Pratt & Whitney GTF engine reliability crisis that grounded part of its A320neo/A321neo fleet for several years and, more recently, a large-scale flight-cancellation crisis in December 2025 tied to new pilot rest-time rules.

Current Operations

IndiGo is India's largest airline by passenger market share (around 64% domestically as of mid-2025) and operates a fleet of more than 430 aircraft, overwhelmingly the Airbus A320/A320neo/A321/A321neo family, supplemented by ATR 72-600 turboprops on regional routes and by wet-leased Boeing 777s, 787s and 737 MAXs used to backfill capacity during Pratt & Whitney engine issues and to launch early long-haul flying. The airline flies over 2,700 daily flights to roughly 140 domestic and international destinations from a multi-hub network centered on Delhi, with major operating bases in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Kochi. IndiGo has 60 Airbus A350-900 widebodies on order for delivery from 2027 as it builds out international long-haul service. It is not a member of any of the three global alliances, relying instead on bilateral codeshare and interline agreements with carriers such as Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, British Airways and American Airlines. In December 2025 the airline suffered a major operational crisis, cancelling roughly 4,500 flights over several days after new pilot flight-duty-time regulations disrupted crew scheduling.

Last verified 2026-09-02· Source: airline public disclosures, company press releases & aviation-industry reporting.

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