Situation challenging, never seen something like this: IndiGo CEO Willie Walsh as he lays out international plans

IndiGo CEO Willie Walsh today said the situation in the airline industry is very challenging at present and the sector has never witnessed anything like this in the past. Walsh said the airline expects to take delivery of the first A350 aircraft in the second quarter of 2028.

"This is a very challenging environment. We have just released the Q2 results. The story is dominated by the ongoing geopolitical situation. We have never seen anything like this. This is going to be the feature of the industry for times to come," Walsh said in his first press conference after taking charge in August this year.

"It is challenging for everyone in the industry," he added during a media briefing in New Delhi.

The airline had brought in Walsh in August this year, after a fiasco last year saw the country’s largest airline abruptly cancel flights, forcing the Indian government to step in and take punitive measures against the airline. Over a week, IndiGo canceled as many as 2,500 flights, with over 1,800 delayed, affecting some 3 lakh passengers.

Soon after, IndiGo’s then CEO, Pieter Elbers, left the company. Walsh’s entry also comes as the airline has been hit hard by rising fuel costs and cancellations of operations in the Middle East.

Despite that, the airline is not shying away from its next phase of growth, which would see more international expansion, especially long-haul flights. The airline is now planning to increase its international capacity to 40%, with mid- and long-haul operations increasing to 10-15% from about 4% currently. The airline will operate these flights with its Airbus A321 XLR and A350 aircraft.

Earlier this year, IndiGo inducted the first of its 40 A321 XLR aircraft and has an order book of 60 A350-900 aircraft. The Airbus A321 XLR can fly up to 4,700 NM (8,000 miles) with a maximum seating capacity of 244 passengers, helping IndiGo expand its operations from nearby South Asia to longer routes, including the UK and Europe.

The Airbus A350-900 has a maximum flight range of 8,500 nautical miles (over 15,750 miles), carries over 400 passengers, and enables the airline to fly as far as the US. That’s a significant leap, given that IndiGo’s international available seat kilometers (ASKM), a measure of an airline's total passenger-carrying capacity, has increased from 16% in FY16 to 32% in FY26.

The Airbus A350S is expected to join the fleet in the second quarter of 2028 and will feature 16 lie-flat business-class seats and a premium-economy configuration, taking a significant leap in its standing from a low-cost carrier to an international player with offerings that match full-service carriers. From 5 destinations and 12 routes in FY16, the international network has expanded to 44 destinations and over 150 routes in FY26.

In all, the Rahul Bhatia-controlled airline plans to operate a fleet of over 550 aircraft, carry 200 million passengers annually, and run roughly 3,000 flights a day by financial year 2030.

Last week, the airline reported a consolidated net loss of ₹1,879.1 crore for the July-September quarter of FY27, narrowing 27.2% from ₹2,582.1 crore in the year-ago period. However, the loss widened sharply from ₹238 crore in the preceding quarter.

IndiGo's aircraft fuel expenses surged 67.2% year on year to ₹9,966.8 crore in the September quarter, outpacing the 25.9% growth in revenue from operations to ₹23,363.8 crore. Total expenses rose 18.6% to ₹26,188.4 crore. Meanwhile, Walsh also maintained that the country's aviation sector could do better with lower airport charges and taxes.