23/01/2026 by Peden Doma Bhutia and Bulbul Dhawan

Skift Take
Ixigo has done much of the heavy lifting in the domestic market. Outbound travel, though, plays by different rules as it needs global supply and boots on the ground. An overseas acquisition makes for a far more realistic entry point.
Indian online travel company Ixigo is laying the groundwork for overseas investments, and potentially acquisitions, through a newly incorporated wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore, even as the company maintains that no transactions are imminent.
Responding to Skift’s query on Friday, Ixigo said there are currently no concrete acquisition plans.
Ixigo’s parent company, Le Travenues Technology, set up the Singapore entity last month. In an exchange filing, the company said the subsidiary would operate in travel technology and strategic investment management, with the aim of supporting Ixigo’s international expansion.

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While the filing itself was sparse on detail, management commentary during the company’s latest earnings call on Thursday offered clearer signals. Ixigo said the Singapore subsidiary would serve as a vehicle for overseas investments across international travel, adjacent travel businesses, and AI-led companies.
“The Singapore subsidiary would be a channel for overseas investments,” Group CEO Aloke Bajpai said Thursday, adding that Ixigo is looking at “ideas, great teams, and great companies.” He noted that potential opportunities need not be strictly within travel, as long as they align with Ixigo’s technology, data, and platform strengths.
Group Co-CEO Rajnish Kumar said the company is actively tracking AI-native teams and products that could reshape the travel ecosystem over the next two to three years. “One of our goals is to scout for such teams and invest in them,” he said.
However, management stopped short of committing to any specific transactions. “As and when we have anything to announce, we will come to the market,” Bajpai said.

Making the Case for an Overseas Acquisition
Industry observers see the move as a logical step for a listed Indian OTA with capital on hand and limited headroom left in domestic transportation-led growth.
“Ixigo would be looking at an acquisition through the Singapore subsidiary,” Virendra Jain, co-founder and CEO of analytics firm Videc, told Skift.
While minority investments are not ruled out, Jain believed that any meaningful international expansion would likely require acquisitions rather than passive stakes. Ixigo today remains largely an India-focused online travel company, with no significant international operating presence. Building that capability organically would be slow and capital-intensive, making acquisitions the more probable route if the company chooses to move decisively.
Since going public, Ixigo has expanded aggressively across rail and domestic air, where it continues to outpace category growth, Jain said. “But India’s online travel market remains intensely competitive and heavily skewed toward low-margin transportation bookings. As a result, scaling profitability increasingly depends on non-transportation products and outbound travel, both areas where international capabilities become critical,” he said.
Outbound travel from India, despite global economic uncertainty and aviation disruptions, has remained resilient. For Indian OTAs, capturing that demand at scale often requires local supply access in destination markets, rather than relying on intermediary hubs or India-based contracting.

This is a playbook that market leaders such as MakeMyTrip have previously followed, establishing overseas footprints to better serve outbound demand. MakeMyTrip’s first-ever overseas acquisition was the Singapore-based travel agency Luxury Tours and Travel in February 2011
More recently, mid-sized players like Travel Boutique Online have adopted similar strategies to tap inventory closer to source markets in Europe, U.S., and the Middle East.
Against that backdrop, a Singapore base gives Ixigo regulatory flexibility, access to global talent, and proximity to Southeast Asia, while also functioning as a neutral platform for cross-border transactions.

AI as Strategy, Not Just Efficiency
Ixigo described the current phase of AI adoption as a “once-in-a-lifetime” technological shift and said it is prepared to take bolder bets, backed by its scale and data depth.
AI already underpins large parts of Ixigo’s operations, from fare prediction and price tracking to real-time integrations with airline systems and automated customer communications.
Customer support has seen some of the most visible impact. During flight disruptions in December, AI handled about 90% of all voice calls, over 150,000 interactions, allowing the company to manage a sharp surge in customer queries without breaching resolution benchmarks.
Kumar said this reinforced its belief that AI is not merely a cost lever but a critical “trust and experience level,” particularly during operational crises.
The company intends to pursue “a small number of focused, high-conviction investments, partnerships or acquisitions” in the short to medium term.

Profits Rise Despite Refunds
Ixigo reported a profit after tax of INR 239.51 million ($2.6 million) for the October–December quarter, up 54% year-on-year, despite issuing refunds during IndiGo’s operational disruption in December.
The company refunded convenience fees and charges under its ‘Ixigo Assured’ free cancellation offering, impacting EBITDA by about INR 20 million ($218,000). Management said the decision was driven by customer trust considerations rather than short-term financial outcomes.
The disruption led to a twofold increase in customer queries and a fivefold jump in usage of Ixigo’s flight tracking products between December 3 and 8. Despite this, flight gross transaction value rose 22% year-on-year, while flight revenue increased 49%, with the company saying it gained market share during the period.

Financial and Operational Highlights
Ixigo also launched the Airport Cabs feature to help book airport transfers across India.
Gross transaction value increased 21% year-on-year to INR 49 billion ($535.5 million) during the quarter.
Revenue from operations was at an all-time high at INR 3.2 billion ($34.7 million), a 31% jump.
Monthly active users during the quarter touched 82.75 million.