Indigo: The country’s largest airline company IndiGo has taken a big decision. Under this, the airline will temporarily stop its services to Manchester, United Kingdom from August 31. Behind this the company has cited increasing challenges and rising expenses regarding operations. This step has been taken at a time when the airline is struggling with financial pressures and operational disruptions related to restrictions on international airspace.

Problems increasing due to closed airspace

Due to the ongoing geopolitical tension in West Asia (Middle East), many countries have closed their airspace. These include countries like Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, which have imposed restrictions on their airspace in view of security risks. To avoid restricted airspace, planes have to fly over safe countries. Due to this, the distance of flights going to India and Europe increases significantly.

Difficulties faced by the company

The airline currently connects Manchester with both the cities of Delhi and Mumbai. These services were started in July last year. This was a part of IndiGo’s efforts to strengthen its long-haul international network. In a statement, the airline said, “Due to the ongoing restrictions in international airspace, the duration of flights has increased significantly and the cost environment also remains challenging. For these reasons, IndiGo has to temporarily stop operating its flights to and from Manchester from 31 August 2026.”

Overall, the company is facing many problems like increasing time in long distance flights, rising prices of aviation turbine fuel and transportation expenses due to foreign exchange fluctuations.

Will return the leased flight

As part of the restructuring of its long-haul operations, IndiGo will also return the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner leased from Norse Atlantic Airways. This decision will be difficult for the company. The company has already suffered a loss of Rs 2536.9 crore in the January-March quarter of financial year 2025-26, which is a big turnaround from the profit of Rs 3067.5 crore recorded in the same period a year ago.

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NORSE ATLANTIC COMPLETES ACMI Deal With IndiGo: India’s airline IndiGo has taken another major step towards international expansion. The company has entered into a new agreement for two and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft under the Damp Lease Agreement with Norse Atlantic Airways. This will be the fifth and sixth aircraft under this partnership, which will start operating on long distance flights from India from the beginning of 2026.

Earlier, IndiGo had signed an agreement for a Dreamliner earlier this year, after which compromises were made soon for three more aircraft. Now under this strategic partnership, a total of six big aircraft have joined the fleet of IndiGo, one of which has already been serving on the Delhi-Bankalk route since 1 March 2025.

Indigo CEO Peter Alberg said, “We are very excited to make two more compromise to include two and Boeing 787-9 aircraft, strengthening their partnership with Norse Atlantic Airways. This step shows our international expansion and commitment to give more options to customers. This partnership will play an important role in our vision by 2030.

This initial agreement is for six months under damp lease, which can be extended for 18 months. However it will depend on regulator approval.

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