Summary
- The primary of AirAsia India’s Airbus A320s recently joined the fleet of Air India Express.
- The merger of the 2 airlines will lead to the diversification of Air India Express’ fleet.
- Air India Express will eventually receive greater than 25 A320s from AirAsia India and likewise strengthen its Boeing 737 fleet with the addition of the MAX series of aircraft.
The upcoming merger of Air India Express and AirAsia India is already reshaping the fleets of the carriers, with an Airbus A320 joining the Boeing 737s of Air India Express. That is the primary of many such transfers that can happen in the approaching days as each airlines merge their fleets. The event also comes close on the heels of Air India Express receiving its first two Boeing 737 MAX planes from the key aircraft deal signed by Air India earlier this yr.
A320 enters Air India Express’ fleet
For the primary time ever, an Airbus A320 aircraft entered the fleet of low-cost international airline Air India Express. The plane previously belonged to AirAsia India and marks the primary of many such transfers ahead of the business integration of each airlines.
Photo: Airbus
The Tata Group is making a consolidated low-cost entity by combining the 2 carriers and operating under the Air India Express brand name. This may also mark a diversification of aircraft type for Air India Express, which has all the time operated an all-Boeing-737 fleet. Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said,
The two.3-year-old A320neo was delivered to AirAsia India in 2021 and has flown 2,888 hours as of June this yr. To this point, it has only flown domestically in India, as AirAsia India doesn’t fly internationally. But that might soon change as Air India Express primarily focuses on flights to the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
Fleet development
Air India Express is slated for a big fleet development because of the merger. Not only will it receive greater than 25 A320s of AirAsia India, but in addition strengthen its Boeing 737 fleet by adding the MAX series of aircraft in the approaching years.
The truth is, it recently received its first two 737 MAXs, marking the start of the deliveries of greater than 150 of the sort ordered for the airline. The 2 MAXs that recently flew to India were a part of the 55 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft initially meant for various Chinese carriers.
With the aircraft type facing delivery delays in China in the previous few years, Boeing had several of them gathering dust. A few of these were eventually assigned to Air India Express after discussions with Chinese airlines.
Photo: Preston Fiedler | Easy Flying
Growing synergy
With a brand new development every other week, evidently the official merger of Air India Express and AirAsia India might be inked soon. Passengers can already travel across each airlines’ domestic and international networks on a single PNR and book tickets on a typical website.
Air India Express also began offering passengers a wider range of meal options earlier this yr by adopting AirAsia India’s in-flight dining brand Gourmair. It’ll be interesting to see how a renewed Air India Express will impact the low-cost aviation market within the country in the approaching years.
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