Air India Express (AI Express) will receive 20 Airbus A320 aircraft from Air India as part of the fleet optimisation strategy among Tata Group airlines.
The planes will be transferred in a phased manner over the next few months, allowing AI Express to expand its domestic and short-haul international operations. Along with the planes, Air India will also transfer its cabin crew and pilots to AI Express to help expand operations. This is expected to cause anxiety among executives, but the people said crew salaries and benefits will be protected.
Air India has two variants of the A320 aircraft: one with single-class all-economy seating and another with an Economy Class and Business Class configuration. The airline's 40 dual-class A320s will be reconfigured into three-class aircraft with a premium economy cabin, while 20 single-class A320s will be moved to AI Express.
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“It would not be optimal for Air India to have planes with both all-economy and three-class cabins and it would create confusion for the brand,” said an executive familiar with the plans. AI Express is primarily focused on domestic city-to-non-city and non-city-to-non-city routes and West Asia, and the all-economy planes would help it compete with IndiGo in those markets. Air India declined to comment.
AI Express has been expanding rapidly since October last year with the introduction of 24 Boeing 737 Max aircraft and the launch of a new unified brand identity. This is part of the ongoing integration of AirAsia India (rebranded as AIX Connect) with AI Express. Similar to the Vistara-Air India merger, the full merger of the two airlines is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
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Unified Manual
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is due to approve a unified flight operations manual this week – each airline has its own separate manual, which must be harmonised as part of the merger process.
Pilots and flight attendants will also need to undergo training to familiarise themselves with the new procedures, so airlines will need to arrange e-learning or classroom training with online instructors and provide detailed communications to staff.
In parallel with the regulatory process, expansion plans are also being implemented. The number of daily departures has increased from 350 to 380 in just three months. The company plans to launch services to Dhaka and Kathmandu and also announce several new domestic destinations. By March next year, AI Express will have a fleet of around 120 aircraft, including a mix of Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Currently, over 75 aircraft are operating under the AI Express brand and registered with AI Express and AIX Connect. “Though we faced challenges in May due to cabin crew issues, the overall outlook for this year is positive and we are aiming to increase capacity by 40 percent,” the executive added.
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