Air India Express and AirAsia India merger moves ahead

The merger of AirAsia India and Air India Express has been moving ahead as planned. Recently the low-cost airline AirAsia India which operates an all-Airbus 320 fleet started repainting their aircraft.

Now the first Airbus A320 from the AirAsia India fleet has officially joined Air India Express.

Soon, after the purchase of Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express the Tata Group made the decision to merge both the full-service carriers and the low-cost airlines as well.

This would then result in one premium airline and one budget carrier. The Tata’s initially bought out the original AirAsia owners.

The two low-cost airlines had recently merged their mobile application and their website into one, under the brand name AIX.

The aircraft which was transferred to Air India Express is registered as VT-ATJ which is currently 2.3 years old at the time of writing.

This A320neo was initially delivered to Air India Express on July, 2021 and then later in December 2022 the aircraft was registered under the brand name “AIX Connect”. Finally, in October 2023 the aircraft was registered with Air India Express.

This aircraft is having its first flight scheduled (with Air India Express registration of IX) with the no. IX 1613 which will depart from Jaipur airport at 11:10am IST on 10th October,2023 and will arrive at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International airport at 13:05pm IST.

This marks the beginning of addition of aircraft other than Boeing in the fleet of Air Asia India.

15/10/2023 AviationSource News

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Air Asia transfers first A320 plane to Air India Express, says Wilson

Mumbai: Tata Group-owned AirAsia India has transferred its first A320 plane to Air India Express, marking a significant step in the process toward final merger to create a single low-cost subsidiary of Air India. 

“This transfer will be progressively followed by all other aircraft so that, eventually, our two LCCs (low-cost carriers) become one and we have full flexibility to deploy aircraft in the most optimal and efficient manner across our low-cost network,” Air India's chief executive officer & managing director Campbell Wilson told employees on Friday.

AirAsia India and Air India Express currently have 28 and 26 planes in their respective fleets. The merger of AirAsia India into Air India Express is anticipated to be completed by March next year.

Meanwhile, Wilson said Air India inaugurated a new Engineering Mega Warehouse in Delhi to store over one million aviation-related spares. The facility is spread across 53,765 sq.ft and is located near the New Delhi’s IGI airport. The warehouse in Delhi is temperature and humidity- controlled to ensure optimal conditions for sensitive aviation material, he said. 

“This world-class facility is the first of its kind for any airline in India, and is key to supporting our growing fleet and enabling the operational reliability we must achieve. Similar consolidation and upgradation will now be pursued in Mumbai to bring nearly 40 separate storage locations under one roof,” Wilson added. 

06/10/2023 Deepak Patel/Ajinkya Kawale/Business Standard

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Pune-Kolkata AirAsia Flight Was Delayed For 5 Hrs; Stranded Passengers Claim They Weren’t Notified

An AirAsia flight that was travelling from Pune to Kolkata through Bhubaneswar experienced a five-hour delay on Friday afternoon, leaving more than 100 passengers stuck at the airport. At 4:35 pm, the flight was scheduled to depart from Pune.

But it finally took off about nine o’clock, arriving in Kolkata at one thirty on Saturday. As per a Times Of India report, a flyer claimed that he didn’t know the flight had been delayed until he arrived at the Pune airport about 2:00 p.m. At 2:30 am, he eventually made it home to Kolkata.

The majority of passengers stated that they had arrived at the airport early to catch the flight because they had not been informed of the delay. They arrived at the airport around 2:00 pm and received no notification at all.

Further, they finished the security inspections and check-in procedures. They didn’t learn about the delay until much later. The flyers stated that having to wait for so long was frustrating.

01/10/2023  Shreya Rathod/Curly Tales

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