Air India Express

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Air India Express
Air India Express logo.svg
IATA ICAO Callsign
IXAXBEXPRESS INDIA
Commenced operations29 April 2005;18 years ago (2005-04-29)
Operating bases
Frequent-flyer program Tata NeuPass
Fleet size48
Destinations 45 [2]
Parent company Air India Limited
Headquarters Gurgaon, Haryana, India [3]
Key people
Revenue Increase2.svg₹5,669 crore (US$710 million) (FY2023) [4]
Net income Increase2.svg₹117 crore (US$15 million) (FY2023) [4]
Employees1,276 (as of 31 March 2018) [4]
Website www.airindiaexpress.com

Air India Express is an Indian low-cost airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Indian flag carrier airline Air India. [5] Currently it is headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana. [3] [6]

Contents

It operates more than 2000 flights per week to 45 destinations across India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. [7] It has a primary hub in Kochi and secondary hubs in Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, Tiruchirappalli, Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, and Mumbai.

History

The former logo used until 2023. Air India Express Logo.svg
The former logo used until 2023.
An Air India Express Boeing 737-800 in the former livery. Air India Express VT-AXU.jpg
An Air India Express Boeing 737-800 in the former livery.

Foundation

Air India Express came into existence 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. [8]

In December 2012, Air India ratified the proposal to move the headquarters to Kochi in January 2013 and to establish a new maintenance base at Thiruvananthapuram. [9] [10] Despite rising losses for its parent entity Air India, the airline continued to thrive in the following years with constant increase in revenue while managing to stay profitable. [11]

Privatisation

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. [12]

During early 2023, reports emerged stating that the Tata Group was seeking to consolidate its 4 airlines into 2 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 has started transferring its aircraft and crew to Air India Express in preparation for the merger. [13] [14]

During the 2023 Paris Air Show, Air India placed an order for 470 aircraft which included an order for 190 737 Max aircraft. The airline later transferred its 737 Max order to Air India Express with deliveries commencing from October 2023. The airline revealed its plan to have 170 aircraft within 5 years. [15]

Rebranding and Merger

The airline began focusing more on non-trunk routes and began to pull out of routes requiring high business capacity, later Air India would take over those routes. 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. [16] [17] [18] [19]

The Tata Group launched a rebranded Air India Express logo and livery on 18 October 2023, promising a fresh, vibrant, and visually engaging airline targeting India's budget-friendly aviation market. A new rebranded website also went live with new branding. The first flight after the rebranding, IX 5101, took off from Mumbai to Delhi on 19 October 2023. [20] 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 hand bag 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. [21] [22] [23]

Corporate affairs and identity

Financial Year (FY)201520162017201820192020202120222023
Revenue (₹Cr) [24] 2,6222,9173,3353,6484,1725,2192,0393,5225,669
Net profit (₹Cr) [24] −61361.68296.7262169412.7798.21−72.33116.84
Reference [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31]

Destinations

Initially Air India Express focuses on providing international flights from Tier II cities in India, to the Persian Gulf region and South East Asia.

The airline flies to 44 destinations as of April 2023 with a primary hub located at Cochin International Airport in Kochi. [32] [33] [34]

On the domestic front, the airline operates from the states of Kerala, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. In its international arena, the airline mainly connects Indian cities with Persian Gulf countries and Singapore in the east. After the privatization and merger, the airline will domestically fly to the states of Karnataka, West Bengal, Telangana, Odisha, Assam, Goa, Manipur, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.[ citation needed ]

Codeshare agreements

Fleet

As of April 2024, Air India Express operates the following aircraft: [36]

Air India Express fleet
AircraftIn serviceOrdersPassengers [7] Notes
Airbus A320-200 ——18023 aircraft to be transferred from AIX Connect. [37]
Airbus A320neo 4—1861 aircraft to be transferred from AIX Connect. [37]
Boeing 737-800 26—189
Boeing 737 MAX 8 18172176Order with 50 options [38] [39]
178
Boeing 737 MAX 10 —TBA
Total48172

Accidents and incidents

See also

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References

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  4. 1 2 3 "Tata Sons FY23 Annual report" (PDF). Air India. 19 October 2019. p. 6.
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  7. 1 2 "Air India Express". Air India Express. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "India's common man flies". The Asia Times Online . Archived from the original on 24 May 2005. Retrieved 20 September 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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  13. ↑ "Air India Group completes integration of Air India Express and AirAsia India". cnbctv18.com. 28 March 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
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  15. ↑ Sharma, Anu (18 October 2023). "New Air India Express eyes 170 planes in 5 years". mint. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  16. ↑ Joshi, Gaurav (16 August 2023). "Air India And Air India Express Staying Clear Of Each Other's Routes". Simple Flying. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  17. ↑ Joshi, Gaurav (26 October 2023). "Air India Express Could Add More International Routes This Winter". Simple Flying. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
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  19. ↑ Mishra, Anu Sharma,Mihir (16 August 2023). "AI, AI Express integration: Code share, route recast". mint. Retrieved 31 October 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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