New Delhi: IndiGo Airlines has unveiled plans to connect major travel destinations across the world from domestic airports in India, a day after revealing that it had ordered 30 A350-900 widebody jets from Airbus. The airline plans to connect Ahmedabad to Amsterdam, said IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers, revealing company founder Rahul Bhatia’s plans for the budget carrier. The airline placed the widebody jet order with an eye on becoming “a global aviation player”.

IndiGo plans to make India a hub for flights abroad, said Elbers, adding that it plans to connect Indian metros to global destinations using nonstop flights, according to an internal email sent to employees.

IndiGo is the largest domestic carrier by passenger load with 60 per cent market share. The airline operates 350 flights per day and ferried over 10 crore passengers last year.

IndiGo has placed an order for nearly 1,000 jets. The majority of these include narrowbody Airbus A320 jets. IndiGO has also ordered 100 A350 widebody jets as part of its plans to expand abroad.

Starting 2027, IndiGo plans to start flights abroad. In his letter to Staffers, Elbers said that the new purchase was part of the airline’s plan to double its size by 2030.

“This is India’s time and IndiGo’s too!,” said Elbers, adding that the airline has recently expanded its global footprint. The airline has inked codeshare agreements which will allow the airline to fly ultra-long-haul flights as far as the US. The Airbus A321s are also expected to expand the airline’s reach to parts of Europe and Asia, said Elbers.

An airline hub is an airport used by airlines away from their headquarters. For example, Gulf-based air carriers such as Emirates, and Etihad have developed the UAE into a hub for international flight changeovers, in the process developing to country into major business hub.

European airlines such as Germany’s Lufthansa and Air France-KLM have slashed flights to Asia amid stiff competition from Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad, the FT reported. Government-backed Gulf carriers have capitalised on the hub model by offering lower airfares, which makes it difficult for European carriers to compete with them, according to the report.