New Delhi, Oct. 22 -- The Friday before Diwali, IndiGo decided to have some fireworks on its own. The airline announced the conversion of MoU to firm orders for 30 A350-900 aircraft, signing a deal with Rolls-Royce for engine supplies to power the A350, and announced its flight schedule to Athens from both Delhi and Mumbai, with thrice-weekly services from each city.

IndiGo signed the MoU with Airbus and announced it on the sidelines of the IATA AGM held in Delhi in June. The agreement involved converting 30 of the 70 widebody options the airline held with Airbus.

The most interesting part of the announcement was the opening of ticket sales for flights to Athens on the XLR, an unspecified number of which IndiGo has on order. The airline...