IndiGo Suspends Copenhagen Flights, Cuts London And Manchester Frequencies Amid Iran Airspace Closure And Airport Congestion

Mumbai, Feb 04: IndiGo announced a significant reduction in its long-haul flight network on Wednesday, citing a combination of geopolitical hurdles and infrastructure bottlenecks. The airline is suspending services to Copenhagen and trimming frequencies to London and Manchester, effective this month.

European routes impacted

The decision highlights the growing operational strain on Indian carriers as conflict-related airspace closures and domestic airport congestion force a recalibration of international expansion plans. IndiGo’s revisions specifically target European routes operated by the airline’s leased Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner fleet of six aircraft.

According to the revision, all services to and from Copenhagen will be suspended from February 17. This setback comes just months after the route was launched in late 2025.

However, the services on the Delhi–London Heathrow route will be scaled back from five flights per week to four weekly flights from February 9 for the remainder of the winter schedule.

Manchester frequencies reduced

IndiGo has also decided to reduce its frequency on the first long-haul route to Manchester, launched in July 2025. Flights from Mumbai and Delhi will be reduced from five to four times weekly starting February 7, with a further reduction to three times weekly by February 19.

The airline said that it had planned this scale adjustment to be introduced in the summer schedule of 2026, but it is being executed earlier to ensure reliability to the rest of IndiGo’s long-haul operations.

Operational challenges cited

IndiGo attributed the strategic scale-back to external factors that have made maintaining the current schedule unsustainable. The closure of Iranian airspace due to ongoing tensions has led to the closure of key corridors over the country. This forces aircraft to take longer, more circuitous routes, significantly increasing the total flight duration and fuel consumption.

The airline also claimed that severe congestion at major Indian hubs and international gateways has led to cascading delays, where a single late arrival disrupts the entire rotation of the airline’s limited wide-body fleet.

Airline statement

“IndiGo regrets that the prevailing circumstances have affected the airline’s operational reliability on its 787-9 routes. By making these adjustments to its schedule, the airline strives to improve reliability of its long-haul services and reduce disruption to connecting itineraries booked by its customers,” said the airline.

Passenger support measures

In a move to mitigate passenger frustration following a wave of domestic disruptions in late 2025, IndiGo emphasised that it is proactively approaching its customers to offer alternative flights or issue timely refunds and compensation. The airline said that it will keep monitoring conditions and may scale the long-haul network up or down depending on how constraints evolve.

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Wide-body expansion plan

IndiGo started a wide-body project in March 2025 as part of its internationalisation journey, by executing a damp lease arrangement of six Boeing 787-9 aircraft from Norse Atlantic Airways.

This project was set up as an intermediate solution for global expansion and a precursor to IndiGo’s own A350-900 wide-body inductions in early 2028, to gradually upgrade its internal capabilities for larger expansion in the future.

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