IndiGo is expanding its Middle East network with increased connectivity to destinations in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Starting June 1, the airline will introduce new daily routes from Cochin to Bahrain and Lucknow to Dammam, as well as increasing Bengaluru-Dubai frequencies from 4X-weekly to daily. Additionally, effective  Aug. 11, IndiGo will commence flights between Ahmedabad and Jeddah.

The LCC has also announced seasonal service to Dammam from both Chennai and Cochin in response to high demand for travel to the Middle East from India during the summer season. 

The route from Cochin International Airport (COK) to Bahrain International Airport (BAH) will become IndiGo’s second to the island country alongside its daily service from Mumbai. The COK-BAH sector is already served daily by Gulf Air and 2X-weekly by Air India Express, OAG Schedules Analyser data shows.

In the Lucknow-Dammam market, IndiGo will go head-to-head with Saudi Arabian LCC flynas, which provides three roundtrips per week. It will also compete with Air India Express’s weekly service between Cochin and Dammam, although the Chennai-Dammam market is unserved.

The route from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (AMD) to Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) will be IndiGo’s fifth to the Saudi Arabian city, adding to service from Delhi, Hyderabad, Kozhikode and Mumbai. SpiceJet is currently the sole operator of nonstop flights between AMD and JED, operating the sector three times per week.

During the week commencing May 15, 2023, IndiGo flies to 11 destinations in the Middle East, offering some 149,000 seats to and from the region. This compares with 78,300 seats and seven cities at this time in 2019.