MUMBAI: Air India Group has completed the operational integration and legal merger of Air India Express Ltd and AIX Connect Pvt Ltd (erstwhile AirAsia India) into a larger Low-Cost Carrier that takes on market leader IndiGo and smaller players such as Akasa Air and SpiceJet. The announcement comes as the group is in the final stages of merging its full-service carriers - Air India and Vistara.
The Tata group said that the fleet size of its low-cost carrier is expected to cross 100 aircraft by the end of the current financial year, with a network footprint spanning across India, Gulf and Southeast Asia.
The merger process for Air India Express was completed in less than a year since the airline’s refreshed brand was unveiled. It involved the harmonisation of operational manuals, as an enabler for the merger, and the transfer of Air operator certificates (AOCs).
On Tuesday, Vikram Dev Dutt, Director General, DGCA, handed over the updated AOC to Aloke Singh, Managing Director, Air India Express, in the presence of Campbell Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of Air India and Chairman, Air India Express, at the DGCA headquarter in New Delhi.
Wilson said, “The integration of AIX Connect with Air India Express is an important milestone in Air India’s Vihaan.ai transformation journey. The merged entity will cater to the growing demand for air travel around India and in the region, especially amongst the country's aspirational youth looking for fresh and more appealing value products.”
He added that this merger will be followed by the merger of Vistara into Air India on 12 November.
Air India Express has a fleet size of 88 aircraft at the moment, with nearly four new aircraft continuing to join each month. The number of routes AIX operates has risen from 74 to 171, and passenger carriage has increased by over 400% since the take-over of Air India by Tata Group in early 2022.
