IndiGo’s big 2025 bet on Europe is hitting a massive wall this month. Starting February 17, 2026, the airline is completely pulling the plug on its Copenhagen flights. It’s a total suspension. No date for a return. At the same time, the carrier is hacking away at its UK schedule. Manchester is getting hit hard—Delhi flights drop from five a week to four on February 7, then down to just three by February 19. Even the prestigious London Heathrow route is being trimmed to four weekly services starting February 9. This isn’t just a minor tweak; it’s a full-scale retreat from a long-haul experiment that’s proving too expensive to maintain.
The reason? A total mess in the skies. IndiGo is blaming “external operational constraints.” That’s airline-speak for the fact that their six leased Boeing 787-9s can’t keep up with the detours needed to avoid Iranian airspace. These geopolitical workarounds add hours of flight time, burn massive amounts of extra fuel, and destroy the airline’s on-time performance. When your “budget” model relies on quick turnarounds, these long detours are a profit killer. To stop the “cascading delays” from ruining their reputation, they’re basically ceding the ground to full-service rivals for now.
The carnage doesn’t stop in Europe. Flights to Tbilisi, Almaty, Baku, and Tashkent are also cancelled through February 28. Since these are flown on A320neo jets with limited fuel tanks, they simply can’t take the long way around. It’s a pragmatic, if painful, admission that the world is currently too volatile for a budget airline to fly these corridors. If you’ve got a ticket, check your mail. The airline is offering refunds, but for many, the “European Dream” is officially on ice until those A350s arrive in 2028.
