Air India Express

Surat-Bangkok flight: Rs 1.8 lakh liquor consumed by 175 flyers in 4 hours

Air India's first direct flight from Surat to Bangkok gains attention for alleged consumption of 15 litres of alcohol

AI Express inaugural Surat-Bangkok flight records brisk liquor sales

Air India Express' inaugural four-hour flight from Surat in Gujarat to Thailand capital Bangkok saw good sales of liquor onboard, with some passengers claiming the stock ran out. The flight, operated with a Boeing 737-8 aircraft on Friday, had 175 passengers and six crew members onboard. The passenger capacity of the plane is 176. Liquor consumption is prohibited in Gujarat. Officials of the budget airline on Sunday said there were brisk sales of alcohol on the flight from Surat to Bangkok and the stock was not exhausted, as claimed by some on social media. Some passengers had taken to social media, saying the airline ran out of liquor. There was sufficient stock of liquor as well as food onboard, the officials added. There was no official statement from the Tata Group-owned Air India Express. According to the officials, generally, a passenger is not served more than 100 ml of liquor during a flight. The airline offers five types of liquor onboard. A 50 ml of Chivas Regal is p

Air India orders 34 trainer craft for cadet pilots at planned flying school

The order includes 31 single-engine aircraft from Piper Aircraft in the United States and 3 twin-engine aircraft from Diamond Aircraft in Austria

Air India Express to add 65 planes, Air India 35 in next three years

Presently, Air India Express operates a fleet of approximately 90 aircraft, whereas full-service airline Air India has around 210 planes

Air India Express expands, defers Kolkata-Dhaka direct flight plans

Air India Express, the budget-carrier arm of Air India, is embarking on a significant expansion by increasing its fleet size and introducing new routes, as passenger growth remains robust. The airline, however, has deferred plans to launch direct flights between Kolkata and Dhaka, citing the ongoing political crisis in Bangladesh. "You would recall we had announced our operational plan for Dhaka, which is a new and significant market for us. But because of the situation there, we have deferred those plans," Aloke Singh, Managing Director of Air India Express, said. "As soon as the conditions are right, we will resume those plans," he said. The airline had initially planned to launch the Dhaka services in September with six weekly flights. Despite the deferment, Singh said the airline remains committed to expanding its presence in the eastern sector. He said its international service flights to and from Kathmandu would begin with the summer schedule, starting the end of March ...

Air India Express announces launch of 4 new routes from Bhubaneswar

Air India Express on Tuesday announced the launch of four new routes from Bhubaneswar as a part of the airline's expansion plan in eastern India. These services will connect the Odisha capital to Jaipur, Lucknow, Kochi and Patna, the airline said in a statement. This expansion reinforces Bhubaneswar's connectivity to key regional and cultural centres across India, it said. The services to Jaipur and Kochi will commence on January 3, 2025, followed by the launch of flights to Lucknow on January 4 and Patna on January 15, the statement said. Bookings are now open. The Bhubaneswar-Jaipur flight will operate four days a week - Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, while the Bhubaneswar-Kochi and Bhubaneswar-Patna flights will operate daily. The Bhubaneswar-Lucknow flights will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Additionally, the airline showcased Odisha's cultural heritage with its 'Ikat livery', beautifully displayed on one of its newest aircraft, the airline statement

Air India sees growth from domestic, short int'l flights in 2025: CEO

Air India will see most of the air traffic growth coming from domestic and short-haul international operations in 2025 as more narrow-body planes are joining the fleet and legacy wide-body aircraft will be going for retrofit next year, the airline's chief Campbell Wilson said on Thursday. The Tata Group-owned airline, which has embarked on a five-year transformation journey, expects to have a fleet of 400 planes by 2027. Currently, the total fleet strength of Air India Group, including Air India Express, is around 300 aircraft. During a select media briefing, Wilson, who has been at the helm of Air India for more than two years, said the airline group has a domestic market share of around 29 per cent and 55 per cent on the metro to metro routes. On top 120 domestic routes, the market share is about 40 per cent, he said. According to him, the retrofit of legacy wide-body aircraft will start in early 2025. "We had hoped to start retrofit of 787s and 777s by now. Unfortunately, the

AI Express to reconfigure planes with biz class seats from April 2025

Air India Express plans to start reconfiguration of planes having business class seats from April 2025, as the airline focuses on operating narrow-body planes with only economy class seats, according to a senior official. The Tata Group-owned airline that merged AIX Connect with itself on October 1, has rationalised its network and currently has an operational fleet of 90 planes, including over 30 aircraft with dual-class seats. Amid supply chain woes impacting fresh aircraft deliveries, the airline has, so far, inducted 35 white-tail Boeing 737-8 planes. Their count will rise to 50 in the coming months. Many of these white-tail aircraft have varying numbers of business-class seats. Generally, white-tail planes are those that were originally manufactured for a particular airline and later taken by another airline. The senior airline official said it will start reconfiguration of the aircraft having business class from April onwards. The carrier wants to offer only economy class s

Air India Express to reconfigure planes with biz class seats from Apr 2025

Air India Express plans to start reconfiguration of planes having business class seats from April 2025, as the airline focuses on operating narrow-body planes with only economy class seats, according to a senior official. The Tata Group-owned airline that merged AIX Connect with itself on October 1 has rationalised its network and currently has an operational fleet of 90 planes, including over 30 aircraft with dual-class seats. Amid supply chain woes impacting fresh aircraft deliveries, the airline has, so far, inducted 35 white-tail Boeing 737-8 planes. Their count will rise to 50 in the coming months. Many of these white-tail aircraft have varying numbers of business-class seats. Generally, white-tail planes are those that were originally manufactured for a particular airline and later taken by another airline. The senior airline official said it will start reconfiguration of the aircraft having business class from April onwards. The carrier wants to offer only economy class se

AI Express plans more international flights; aims for 110 planes by Mar '25

Expanding its network and tapping group synergies, Air India Express will focus on connecting smaller cities and towns with metros as well as fly to new overseas destinations, according to senior officials. The airline, which recently completed the merger of AIX Connect with itself, has a fleet of around 90 aircraft and the count is expected to cross 110 by the end of this fiscal. It also aims to fly to a total of 55 destinations by the end of March 2025 and has also rationalised its network as part of Air India Group strategy. Apart from adding domestic routes, the Tata Group-owned airline will start flights to more foreign destinations, including Bangkok and Phuket in Thailand, the officials said. Air India Express Managing Director Aloke Singh said the airline will focus on Tier 2 and 3 cities and towns as they are the growth engines, and the largest chunk of the market is metro to non-metro. "On the regional short haul international network, it will be primarily from Tier 2,

Bomb threats: Air India Express, Vistara flights make emergency landings

Over the past several days, nearly 40 flights operated by Indian carriers have faced bomb threats, all of which have been hoaxes so far

No bomb found aboard Air India Express plane, says Singapore police

No bomb was found aboard an Air India Express plane which landed in Singapore more than an hour after its scheduled arrival time, the police said on Wednesday. The police said it found no bomb after completing security checks at Changi Airport on the low-cost carrier's aircraft from the Indian city of Madurai. The airline received an e-mail about a bomb on flight AXB684 scheduled to land at Changi Airport in Singapore at 8.50 pm on Tuesday. The flight escorted by two F-15 fighter jets from the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) landed at 10.04 pm. The police said they were informed of the bomb threat at 8.25 pm and completed checks after the plane landed, reported The Straits Times. Investigations are ongoing and action will be taken against those who intentionally caused public alarm, the police said. Flight tracker Flightradar24 showed the plane was circling for about an hour east of Singapore before landing. Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen in a Facebook post said: Two of our

Singapore scrambles 2 jets to escort A-I Express plane after bomb threat

The Air India Express plane operating flight IX 684 from Madurai to Singapore had received a bomb threat

Tatas set to expand Air India Express fleet with Air India, Vistara planes

Air India Express will receive 17 Airbus A320 Neo planes from Air India and 10 from Vistara after their merger, with the transfer expected to be completed by mid-2025

Air India, Vistara make inflight announcements remembering Ratan Tata

Air India, Air India Express and Vistara are making inflight announcements on Thursday in remembrance of Tata Group patriarch Ratan Tata for whom aviation was especially close to his heart. Tata, 86, who was also Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus, breathed his last on Wednesday night at a Mumbai hospital. Officials on Thursday said the three airlines, part of the Tata Group, will be making announcements in remembrance of Tata in their flights during the day. The demise of Tata also comes at a time when the conglomerate is in the process of completing the consolidation of its airline business -- the integration of Air India Express and AIX Connect was completed on October 1 while the merger of Vistara with Air India is set for November 12. Vistara is a joint venture between the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines. Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson told staff that Air Indians especially acknowledge and are grateful for Tata's immense contribution to Indian aviation and to the Tata ...

Akasa Air to run safety tests on 14 of 25 planes amid rudder issue

Air India Express to also conduct similar audit; SpiceJet says none of its Boeing 737 NGs impacted

AIX Connect's merger into Air India Express is complete, says DGCA

Air India Express' fleet size has grown to 88 aircraft

AI Express-AIX Connect merger key in transformation journey: Wilson

The merger of AIX Connect with Air India Express is an important milestone in the transformation journey of Air India Group and the merged entity will cater to the growing air travel demand, Campbell Wilson said on Tuesday. Wilson is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Air India as well as the Chairman of Air India Express. Aviation regulator DGCA has approved the merger of AIX Connect with Air India Express, which will now focus on future growth and transformation agenda, according to a release. The merged entity will operate under the 'Air India Express' name and a unified airline code 'IX'. With the merger completed, Air India Express will focus on a future growth and transformation agenda. "About a year ago, we started the integration of AIX Connect and Air India Express, bringing the two organisations together behind a common brand. "Alongside, we worked on the complex integration exercise culminating today in the operational and legal merger of the two ...

DGCA grants approval for merger of AIX Connect, Air India Express

Approval process for this merger involved reviewing organizational structures and approvals, ensuring a seamless transfer of aircraft and personnel, and safeguarding the safety of ongoing operations

AI Express to phase out biz class seats by 2025; to have 100 planes by Dec

Air India Express, which is set to complete the merger of AIX Connect with itself next month, will phase out business class seats in its aircraft in 2025, according to a senior airline official. Currently, the carrier, part of Tata Group, has a fleet of 85 aircraft -- 25 A320 family planes and 60 Boeing 737s. By year-end, the total number is expected to be around 100. The airline has 34 white tail Boeing 737-8 aircraft and out of them, 29 have business class seats of varying numbers. Their count will rise to 50 by the end of this year. Generally, white tail planes are those that were originally manufactured for a particular airline and later taken by another airline. The airline official told PTI that aircraft with the business class seats will be phased out by reconfiguring them next year as business class does not fit into the Air India Express model. These white tail aircraft have varying number of business class seats, the official added. In the existing fleet of Air India ..