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Air India Express
Air India Express is an Indian low-cost airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India. It is headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, India. The airline operates more than 500 flights per day to 56 destinations across India, Nepal, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. It has operating bases in Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kannur, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram and Tiruchirappalli.
Air India Express was inaugurated on 29 April 2005 with the launch of three flights that took off simultaneously from Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. The airline was launched as a low-cost carrier with the objective of providing convenient connectivity to short-haul international routes in the Middle East and Southeast Asia for the Indian expatriate community. Air India Express was Air India's response to the growing popularity of low-cost carriers worldwide and within the region. As a low-cost carrier, the airline operates point-to-point flights with multiple hubs all over India.
In January 2013, Air India's headquarters relocated to Kochi and established a new maintenance base at Thiruvananthapuram. Despite rising losses for its parent entity Air India, the airline continued to thrive in the following years and remain profitable.
On 8 October 2021, Air India—along with its low-cost carrier Air India Express and fifty percent of AISATS, a ground handling company—were sold for ₹18,000 crores (US$2.5 billion) to Talace Private Limited, a Tata Sons' special-purpose entity. The airlines were later handed over to the Tata Group.
In early 2023, reports emerged stating that the Tata Group was seeking to consolidate its four airlines into two airlines—one full service carrier and one low-cost carrier. The group acquired its remaining stake in AirAsia India, which was rebranded as AIX Connect, and talks began to merge Air India Express and AIX Connect. The group later confirmed the merger and applied for a merger request with the necessary authorities. The merger was later approved by the Competition Commission of India. AIX Connect started to transfer its aircraft and crew to Air India Express in preparation for the merger.
The airline began focusing more on non-trunk routes and began to pull out of routes requiring high business capacity, which would be taken over by Air India. The airline and Air India also began to stay away from each other's routes, with Air India Express connecting smaller cities and feeding on Air India's long-haul network.
The Tata Group launched the rebranded Air India Express logo and livery on 18 October 2023, promising a new airline targeting India's budget-friendly aviation market. A rebranded website also went live. The first flight after the rebranding, IX 5101, took off from Mumbai to Delhi on 19 October 2023. The airline later began attempts to diversify its revenue streams. It began focusing more on ancillary services by retrofitting all its aircraft with hot ovens to offer hot meals, and started selling handbag-only fares called "Xpress Lite Fares". The airline aims to increase its ancillary revenue to over 20% of its total revenue within the next few years.
The merger of AIX Connect and Air India Express was declared complete on 1 October 2024. By the time, the fleet size is to reach 88 aircraft and eventually 100 by 2024-end. As of September 2024, the airline has 7,000 employees. As a result of the merger, the AirAsia branding from the A320 aircraft was removed.
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Air India Express
Air India Express is an Indian low-cost airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India. It is headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, India. The airline operates more than 500 flights per day to 56 destinations across India, Nepal, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. It has operating bases in Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kannur, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram and Tiruchirappalli.
Air India Express was inaugurated on 29 April 2005 with the launch of three flights that took off simultaneously from Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. The airline was launched as a low-cost carrier with the objective of providing convenient connectivity to short-haul international routes in the Middle East and Southeast Asia for the Indian expatriate community. Air India Express was Air India's response to the growing popularity of low-cost carriers worldwide and within the region. As a low-cost carrier, the airline operates point-to-point flights with multiple hubs all over India.
In January 2013, Air India's headquarters relocated to Kochi and established a new maintenance base at Thiruvananthapuram. Despite rising losses for its parent entity Air India, the airline continued to thrive in the following years and remain profitable.
On 8 October 2021, Air India—along with its low-cost carrier Air India Express and fifty percent of AISATS, a ground handling company—were sold for ₹18,000 crores (US$2.5 billion) to Talace Private Limited, a Tata Sons' special-purpose entity. The airlines were later handed over to the Tata Group.
In early 2023, reports emerged stating that the Tata Group was seeking to consolidate its four airlines into two airlines—one full service carrier and one low-cost carrier. The group acquired its remaining stake in AirAsia India, which was rebranded as AIX Connect, and talks began to merge Air India Express and AIX Connect. The group later confirmed the merger and applied for a merger request with the necessary authorities. The merger was later approved by the Competition Commission of India. AIX Connect started to transfer its aircraft and crew to Air India Express in preparation for the merger.
The airline began focusing more on non-trunk routes and began to pull out of routes requiring high business capacity, which would be taken over by Air India. The airline and Air India also began to stay away from each other's routes, with Air India Express connecting smaller cities and feeding on Air India's long-haul network.
The Tata Group launched the rebranded Air India Express logo and livery on 18 October 2023, promising a new airline targeting India's budget-friendly aviation market. A rebranded website also went live. The first flight after the rebranding, IX 5101, took off from Mumbai to Delhi on 19 October 2023. The airline later began attempts to diversify its revenue streams. It began focusing more on ancillary services by retrofitting all its aircraft with hot ovens to offer hot meals, and started selling handbag-only fares called "Xpress Lite Fares". The airline aims to increase its ancillary revenue to over 20% of its total revenue within the next few years.
The merger of AIX Connect and Air India Express was declared complete on 1 October 2024. By the time, the fleet size is to reach 88 aircraft and eventually 100 by 2024-end. As of September 2024, the airline has 7,000 employees. As a result of the merger, the AirAsia branding from the A320 aircraft was removed.
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