He attended elementary school at De Singel Primo Schiedam and studied at Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Venlo where he received a Bachelor in Logistics Management.
Elbers started his career with KLM in 1992 as supervisor aircraft loading at the Schiphol hub, followed by a number of managerial positions in The Netherlands as well as abroad for six years, amongst which those of general/sales manager in Japan, Greece and Italy.
After he returned to The Netherlands, he became SVP network & alliances, before he joined the board of managing directors in 2011 as chief operating officer.
[4][5] During his time in office, the Dutch state purchased a 14% stake in the company in 2019, in an effort to protect the Netherlands' interests.
[6] In June 2022, IndiGo announced the appointment of Elbers as its new CEO, replacing Ronojoy Dutta, who had retired.