MANILA, Philippines — Less than a year after India and the Philippines finally restored nonstop passenger flights, India’s largest airline is preparing to make the market considerably more competitive.
IndiGo operator InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. has applied to the Philippine Civil Aeronautics Board for a Foreign Air Carrier’s Permit, a regulatory step required before the low-cost giant can operate scheduled flights to the Philippines.
The routes currently being evaluated could open three significant new connections:
Mumbai-Manila, Mumbai-Cebu and Delhi-Cebu.
For travelers, the proposal could eventually mean something the India-Philippines market has historically lacked: multiple nonstop options connecting not only the two countries’ capitals but also Mumbai and Cebu, two major commercial and tourism hubs.
But there is an important distinction.
These flights are planned, not yet approved or scheduled.
The CAB set IndiGo’s permit application for hearing on September 16, 2026, and no launch date, frequency, aircraft type or ticket price has yet been formally announced for the proposed Philippine services.
Mumbai-Manila appears to be first on IndiGo’s list
According to the Department of Trade and Industry-linked announcement, the initial route under consideration is Mumbai-Manila.
That could be followed by flights from Mumbai to Cebu and Delhi to Cebu.
Trade Secretary Cristina Roque discussed the plans with InterGlobe executives in New Delhi on September 12.
The proposed network could connect Manila and Cebu with IndiGo’s vast domestic Indian system while also feeding passengers into its international network, including routes throughout the Middle East.
Roque said direct connectivity could support tourism, investment and bilateral commerce between two of Asia’s large and fast-growing economies.
For Cebu, the significance could be especially large.
India-Philippines nonstop flying today is concentrated on Delhi-Manila.
An IndiGo service to Cebu would give Indian travelers direct access to the Visayas instead of requiring an onward domestic connection from Manila or a transfer through another Asian hub.
Air India got there first
IndiGo would not be entering an empty market.
Air India launched the first restored nonstop service between New Delhi and Manila on October 1, 2025, initially operating five flights per week.
Demand was strong enough for Air India to increase the route to daily service from December 11, 2025.
Air India’s current booking system continues to show nonstop Delhi-Manila service in September 2026, with a scheduled flight time of around 6 hours and 55 minutes on current operations.
That makes IndiGo’s proposal significant for a different reason.
Rather than simply restoring connectivity, it could introduce direct airline competition and expand nonstop service beyond Delhi.
There is currently no comparable nonstop Mumbai-Manila option in regular schedules, meaning passengers from India’s financial capital typically connect through Delhi or another Asian hub.
If IndiGo eventually launches Mumbai-Manila, that could change the geography of India-Philippines air travel.
IndiGo is not a small challenger
Competition from IndiGo would be substantial.
The carrier describes itself as India’s largest passenger airline, operating more than 400 aircraft and over 2,200 daily flights across more than 130 destinations, including over 40 international markets.
It carried more than 118 million passengers in the previous year.
Its scale gives IndiGo one advantage particularly relevant to Philippine routes: domestic connectivity.
A Manila-Mumbai passenger would not necessarily end the journey in Mumbai.
IndiGo could feed travelers onward to dozens of Indian cities using its own domestic network.
Likewise, passengers originating elsewhere in India could connect through Mumbai or Delhi onto Philippine flights.
That potentially expands the addressable market well beyond travelers whose journey begins or ends in the two gateway cities.
IndiGo has been looking at the Philippines for more than a year
The 2026 permit application did not appear suddenly.
During President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s state visit to India in August 2025, then-Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco met IndiGo executives and encouraged the airline to launch Philippine services.
At that time, IndiGo senior vice president Vinay Malhotra said the Philippines was “definitely on our radar,” with Manila and Cebu among the potential gateways being studied.
The airline was already expanding into leisure-heavy island destinations such as Bali, Mauritius and Seychelles and saw the Philippines as another potential tourism market.
A year later, the discussion has progressed from expressions of interest to an actual regulatory application.
The CAB filing is therefore an important step—but it is still not the same thing as a confirmed inaugural flight.
The CAB hearing is the immediate hurdle
Foreign airlines cannot simply announce Philippine flights and begin operations.
The Civil Aeronautics Board issues Foreign Air Carrier’s Permits to international carriers deemed fit, willing and able to operate services required by public convenience and aviation rules.
InterGlobe Aviation filed its permit petition in August.
The CAB scheduled a hearing for September 16, while interested parties were given until September 10 to submit opposition or positions concerning the application.
Until that process is completed, headlines should avoid saying that IndiGo “will launch” the routes as though regulatory approval and schedules are already final.
The more accurate wording is that the airline plans, proposes or is evaluating direct Philippine services.
Philippine Airlines wants back into India too
IndiGo is not the only carrier considering expansion.
Philippine Airlines has also asked the CAB for additional traffic rights to revive direct India service, more than a decade after withdrawing its previous Manila-New Delhi route.
PAL previously operated New Delhi flights in 2011 but eventually discontinued them amid weak demand.
An attempted revival years later did not proceed.
The market today, however, looks considerably different.
Air India has demonstrated demand for nonstop Delhi-Manila service.
Visa requirements have been relaxed.
Tourism officials are actively promoting India.
And both governments are trying to deepen economic ties.
If PAL and IndiGo both eventually enter the market alongside Air India, a route category that had no nonstop service before October 2025 could move toward multi-airline competition within a relatively short period.
The bilateral aviation agreement already created room to grow
The regulatory foundation was established several years earlier.
The Philippines and India signed a modernized Air Services Agreement on September 27, 2021, aimed at increasing international air connectivity between the two countries.
Philippine aviation reporting says the agreement permits designated airlines to operate up to 28 flights weekly under the relevant bilateral entitlements, while also providing wider opportunities involving secondary gateways.
That matters for IndiGo’s Cebu proposal.
Governments increasingly want international traffic to flow through Philippine gateways other than Manila, both to support regional tourism and to reduce the country’s historic concentration of international services at NAIA.
Cebu already functions as a major international gateway to Central and Southern Philippines.
A direct India connection would strengthen that role.
Visa-free entry changed the tourism equation
One of the biggest obstacles to Indian tourism was also removed last year.
Since June 8, 2025, Indian nationals traveling to the Philippines for tourism or business can receive 14-day visa-free entry, subject to requirements including a sufficiently valid passport, confirmed accommodation, proof of financial capacity and a return or onward ticket.
Indian nationals holding valid visas or residence permits from specified countries—including the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, Schengen states, Singapore or the United Kingdom—may qualify for 30-day visa-free entry under separate rules.
A visa exemption does not automatically generate tourism.
Travelers still need competitive fares, convenient schedules and straightforward connections.
But removing the pre-trip visa requirement reduces one of the barriers that previously made the Philippines less convenient than several competing Southeast Asian destinations for Indian holidaymakers.
That is why airline capacity has become the next major piece of the strategy.
Indian visitor numbers are already rising
India has become one of the tourism markets Manila is trying to develop more aggressively.
During the first half of 2026, the Philippines recorded 60,583 Indian visitors, placing India among the country’s top foreign visitor markets, according to Department of Tourism figures cited in Philippine reporting.
The potential market is considerably larger.
India has a population exceeding 1.4 billion and a growing middle class with increasing demand for overseas leisure travel.
But the Philippines competes for those travelers against destinations with much denser Indian air links—including Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
IndiGo already flies extensively throughout Southeast Asia.
Adding the Philippines would close one of the remaining gaps in that regional network.
Cebu could be the tourism play
Mumbai-Manila offers obvious commercial and business logic.
Cebu presents a different opportunity.
Mactan-Cebu International Airport gives arriving tourists access not only to Cebu’s resorts and heritage destinations but also easier onward travel toward Bohol, Siargao, Dumaguete and other parts of the central and southern Philippines.
For Indian travelers primarily interested in beaches, diving and resort tourism, arriving directly in Cebu could eliminate the Manila connection entirely.
That is why the proposed Mumbai-Cebu and Delhi-Cebu routes may eventually prove as strategically important as Mumbai-Manila.
It would also align with Philippine tourism officials’ long-standing goal of spreading international arrivals beyond the capital.
Whether passenger demand is sufficient to sustain those routes at commercially viable frequencies, however, remains for IndiGo to determine.
The company has not disclosed its traffic forecasts.
The opportunity goes beyond passengers
The DTI is also pitching direct flights as an economic and logistics opportunity.
India-Philippines bilateral trade reached approximately $3.9 billion in fiscal year 2025-26, according to India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
More nonstop passenger flights can also provide belly-hold cargo capacity for time-sensitive goods.
That can matter for industries moving electronics, pharmaceuticals, high-value components, perishables and e-commerce shipments.
InterGlobe’s discussions with DTI went even further.
The two sides explored possible cooperation involving logistics, artificial intelligence and enterprise technology, pilot training and hospitality investments.
InterGlobe’s broader group includes interests beyond aviation, which means the flight proposal could become one part of a larger Philippine commercial strategy.
DTI is even exploring ties with PAL and Cebu Pacific
One interesting part of the talks involves potential cooperation rather than pure competition.
DTI said it could facilitate discussions between InterGlobe and Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific over possible codeshare, interline or general-sales arrangements.
Such agreements could dramatically expand the usefulness of a limited number of India-Philippines flights.
For example, an Indian passenger arriving in Manila on IndiGo could potentially connect onward to a Philippine domestic destination on a partner airline under a coordinated itinerary.
Similarly, Philippine travelers could access IndiGo’s domestic network beyond Mumbai or Delhi.
No such partnership has been announced, so these possibilities remain exploratory.
But they illustrate why route economics are increasingly about networks rather than a single city pair.
IndiGo itself is undergoing an international transformation
The Philippine plan also fits a bigger shift happening inside IndiGo.
For much of its history, the airline built its strength around short-haul, low-cost domestic flying.
It is now becoming increasingly international.
IndiGo has added longer-range aircraft and pushed into markets well beyond South Asia and Southeast Asia.
Its Airbus A321XLR fleet, for example, is being used on longer routes such as India-Athens, while leased Boeing 787-9 aircraft have supported longer-haul services.
The expansion has not been without difficulty.
High fuel costs, geopolitical disruptions and airspace restrictions forced IndiGo in 2026 to adjust or temporarily suspend several international services.
That is another reason launch timing for the Philippines should not be assumed until IndiGo formally announces schedules.
An approved permit creates the legal ability to operate.
Actual service still depends on aircraft availability, airport slots, route economics and operational planning.
What has—and has not—been confirmed
At this stage, several facts are clear.
InterGlobe Aviation has applied to the Philippine CAB for permission to operate scheduled services.
Mumbai-Manila is being evaluated, with Mumbai-Cebu and Delhi-Cebu also under consideration.
DTI is supporting the effort and offering help with regulatory coordination, airport slots and potential local partnerships.
IndiGo has spent more than a year studying Philippine entry.
Air India already operates daily Delhi-Manila service.
Philippine Airlines separately wants authority to return to India.
And Indian visitors now benefit from easier Philippine entry requirements.
What remains unknown is equally important.
IndiGo has not yet announced when flights will begin, how often they will operate, which aircraft will be used or how much tickets will cost.
Those details will come only after the regulatory and commercial pieces fall into place.
India-Philippines aviation went from almost nothing to a potential airline battle
For years, travelers moving between India and the Philippines typically had to connect through airports such as Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or other Asian hubs.
That changed in October 2025 when Air India launched Delhi-Manila.
The route quickly went daily.
Now India’s biggest airline wants in.
Philippine Airlines wants to return.
Mumbai could receive its first regular nonstop link to Manila, while Cebu could gain direct access to two of India’s biggest aviation markets.
What was recently one of the weakest air links between two major Asian economies could therefore become one of the region’s more interesting aviation expansion stories.
But the next step does not happen on a runway.
It happens at the Civil Aeronautics Board.
Until IndiGo receives the necessary authority and publishes a schedule, the Philippine flights remain a plan with significant potential—not yet a ticket passengers can buy.
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