AIX Connect, as well as the airline designation code ‘I5’, will fly back in time in the first week of October when the no-frills airline’s merger with Air India Express becomes a reality.
“Everything is on track,” a senior airline official told PTI earlier this week about the merger process that has been underway for almost a year.
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AIX Connect, which was previously known as AirAsia India, will cease to exist after flying for 11 years. The aircraft registered under its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) will be transferred to Air India Express’ AOC under the legal merger that will come into effect in the first week of October, another official said.
Currently, Air India Express and AIX Connect operate around 400 flights daily and operations are expected to expand in the coming months. It has a fleet of 88 aircraft, including 61 Boeing 737 NG and MAX, and 27 A320 ceos and neos.
With the legal merger, all flights of the erstwhile AIX Connect will be operated under Air India Express’ airline designation code – ‘IX’ and the ‘I5’ code will not be there, the official said.
A war room has been running for the past three months to ensure a smooth merger as the process involves multiple stakeholders including landlords and airports, the official said, adding that the process will also be a model for the future.
Vistara’s merger with Air India, both part of the Tata Group, is scheduled for November.
With the legal merger of Air India Express and AIX Connect, there will also be a single staffing system for crew of both airlines, said a senior Air India Express pilot.
The two airlines already have a common website, distribution system and customer service, among others.
In July 2023, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approved AIX Connect operations under the Air India Express brand. And in October last year, the airline introduced a unified brand.
Over the past few months, the integration process has covered several areas, including human resources and flight network. That said, certain challenges remain, including those related to a section of the Air India Express cabin crew.
In terms of manpower, there are around 6,000 employees, including 1,500 cabin crew. Cabin crew, including about 1,000 from AIX Connect, will be more than 4,000.
AirAsia India, which took off as a budget airline jointly owned by Tatas and Malaysia’s AirAsia Berhad in 2014, was rebranded as AIX Connect in December 2022 following the Malaysian airline’s exit from the company.
Air India Express, which began operations in 2005, was previously run by the government and is now a subsidiary of Air India, owned by the Tata Group.
After the name change, the tails of the former AirAsia India aircraft were painted red and in the future, those tails will slowly adopt the tail art of Air India Express, whose theme is Indian patterns.
And the merger will also leave a unique trail of consolidation in India’s fast-growing civil aviation market.
(Only the title and image of this report may have been modified by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: September 29, 2024 | 16:08 IS
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