AIX Connect to dissolve and merge in to Air India Express next week; details inside
Just when Air India-Vistara merger is fast approaching and the top management as well as employees of both the airlines are busy with the merger preparations, two other low-frill carriers from the Tata group will fold into one airline in the next week. AIX Connect (formerly known as AirAsia India) will merge with Air India Express in the first week of October. With the merger in place, the airline designator code of AIX Connect ‘I5’ will dissolve and only Air India Express code ‘IX’ will be valid. Besides, AIX Connects Air Operator Certificate (AOC) will be transferred to the AOC of Air India Express under the legal merger.
All the merger formalities are on track as the entire workforce of two airlines have been preparing for this day since a long time now, a top airline source confirmed.
AIX Connect, formerly known as AirAsia India have been flying for 11 years.
Post-merger the new airline – Air India express is expected to expand its operations as well as its fleet over the next few months. Currently both the airlines have a combined strength of 88 planes with 61 Boeing 737NGs and MAX and 27 A320ceos and neos. Both the airlines combine operate around 400 daily flights including domestic as well as international operations.
Since last three months, TATA group have developed a war room to ensure smooth merger of all the four airlines as it involves multiple stakeholders, including lessors and airports.
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.
The two airlines already have a common website, distribution system and customer care.
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. Since last few months, the integration process is in full-force with integration of important departments like human resources, flight network and finance.
AirAsia India, previous was a joint venture between the Tata Group and Malaysia’s AirAsia Berhad since 2014. But in December 2022, AirAsia Berhad pulled out of the merger post which the airline was renamed as AIX Connect. With the change in name, the tails of the AirAsia India fleet were painted red, now as AIX Connect inches forward towards the merger with Air India Express, all the tails will be repainted in Air India Express livery whose theme is different patterns of Indian culture and tradition.
Air India Express commenced operations in 2005, and was a government-operated entity until the Tata Group took over the complete Air India airlines along with its subsidiaries.