Speaking at a media event in central London on Wednesday (11 February), chief executive Natalya Leahy confirmed the expedition operator would continue to grow even though it had already increased capacity by 49% since 2019.

Currently, the line, which has brand partnership with National Geographic until 2040, owns 12 ships with a further 11 charter vessels operating under the company's branding. The ships sailing to more than 110 destinations around the globe.

Leahy said: "We have 12 ships with more to come. We have ambitions to grow and have been growing the fleet since 2019.

"We will continue to look for more opportunities to potentially buy more ships or build new ships. We're actively working on our expansion plans.

"If you build a new ship that is a four-year journey. If you buy ships that is quicker. We also charter ships all the time."

When pressed on which fleet expansion method she preferred, Leahy said: "Of course, my preference is to have a new-build. We have fun when we build them and design them. It is really fun to see the before and after. They look wonderful and they attract huge demand so we're looking at that all the time."

Leahy revealed the company often used charter vessels to operate specific seasons or destinations. "In Europe, we use our partner Transcend Cruises that is the only way I want to be there," she continued. "The ship provides our guests with an amazing experience. Our ships in India and Indonesia are all charter."

On the line's debut European river programme, Leahy revealed cabins have overwhelmingly been sold to US guests. She added: "There have been very few bookings through the UK market which has surprised me. Maybe we need to talk about the product more here?

"It's such a unique way to experience European rivers. Our UK guests favour Arctic, Antartica, Galapagos and Greenland."

Leahy and Kathi Riddle, senior vice-president, chief sales officer for Lindblad Expeditions, confirmed the line had seen "double digit growth" from the UK market in the last 12 months.

"Growing our UK business is a huge focus area for us," Leahy said. "Since last May, we have expanded the website, the team, the call centre and offered dedicated promotions to the UK market. More than 40 UK travel advisors travelled with us last year. This year, we will have 52. I really encourage travel agents to book our special rates."

While Greenland is remains popular with UK guests, Leahy said there were pockets of availability on Lindblad's Greenland sailings.

However, when asked by TTG if Donald Trump's recent threats to annex Greenland had hit booking levels, Leahy added: "We've not seen any impact but we're mindful of it and we're watching it. It's such a hot topic but I forecast that demand will go up rather than down. So many more travellers are aware of Greenland now.

"There are some great offers out there which might be why there's strong demand?," said Leahy, who revealed the line has just extended its wave season offer until early March.

Lindblad Expeditions is offering discounts of up to 20% and a 50% reduced deposit." We were going to end our offer last week but we've just extended it until early March. We've not seen a slow down in demand," she added.

In the first six weeks of 2026, Lindblad has achieved 40% of the revenue it brought in for the whole of last year, Leahy confirmed.