AI Express-AIX Connect merger in Oct first week; 'I5' to fly into sunset

AIX Connect as well as airline designator code 'I5' will fly into the past in the first week of October as the merger of the no-frills carrier 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 in progress for nearly one year.

AIX Connect, which was earlier 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 the AOC of Air India Express under the legal merger that is to 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 the operations are set to expand in the coming months. It has a fleet of 88 planes, including 61 Boeing 737 NGs and MAXs, and 27 A320 ceos and neos.

With the legal merger, all flights of erstwhile AIX Connect will be operated with the airline designator code of Air India Express -- 'IX' and the code 'I5' will not be there, the official said.

A war room has been functioning for the last three months to ensure a smooth merger as the process involves multiple stakeholders, including lessors and airports, the official said and added that the process will also be a template for the future.

The merger of Vistara with Air India, both part of the Tata Group, is scheduled in November.

With the legal merger of Air India Express and AIX Connect, there will also be a single rostering system for the crew of both carriers, a senior pilot at Air India Express said.

Already, the two airlines have a common website, distribution system and customer care, among others.

In July 2023, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approved operations of AIX Connect under the Air India Express brand. And in October last year, the airline unveiled a unified brand.

Over the last many months, the integration process has covered various areas, including human resources and flight network. All said, certain challenges, including those pertaining to a section of cabin crew of Air India Express, remain.

In terms of manpower, there are around 6,000 employees, including 1,500 cockpit crew. The cabin crew strength, including about 1,000 from AIX Connect, will be more than 4,000.

AirAsia India, that took off as a budget carrier jointly owned by Tatas and Malaysia's AirAsia Berhad in 2014, was rechristened as AIX Connect in December 2022 following the exit of the Malaysian carrier from the venture.

Air India Express, which commenced operations in 2005, was earlier steered by the government and is now a subsidiary of Tata Group-owned Air India.

After the name change, the tails of aircraft of erstwhile AirAsia India was painted red and going forward, those tails will slowly embrace Air India Express's tail art whose theme is patterns of India.

And the merger too will leave a unique trail of consolidation in the fast growing Indian civil aviation market.