Air India Express unveils new brand identity; to reach 170 aircraft in 5 years

Air India Express is in the process of merging AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India) with itself and the entity will be the low cost carrier of the Tata Group.

Bengaluru: Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India), subsidiaries of the Tata-owned Air India Group, on Wednesday, introduced their common and refreshed branding under the banner Air India Express on their latest Boeing B737-8 aircraft which was flown from Hyderabad to Mumbai for the launch.

The unveiling of the new brand identity, logo and aircraft livery was done at Mumbai airport, a little over two months after Air India unveiled its new brand identity. Under the airline's new visual identity, the Tata Group has chosen orange and turquoise as primary colours while tangerine and ice blue are the secondary colours. 

The integrated Air India Express-AirAsia India entity will operate as Air India Express. 

“We will be sunsetting the AIX India brand. For some time you would continue to see two airline designator codes- IX and I5 - at the airports and on your tickets but the services, sales and distribution will all be done under the Air India Express branding,” said  Aloke Singh, Managing Director, Air India Express.

The first two B-737-8s of Air India’s order book of 470 have already joined Air India Express’ fleet and the first of them will start commercial operations - Delhi-Guwahati-Imphal - on October 19. 

“With 50 aircraft set to be inducted into the fleet over the next 15 months, we double in size in a short span of time. Over the course of the next 5 years, we aim to grow to a fleet of about 170 narrow-body aircraft, with a network spanning the domestic India and short-haul international markets,” said Singh. 

The airline is looking to expand its network to tier-2 and tier-3 cities in India as well as in the Gulf, Middle East and South East Asia region. 

“On average, between now and the end of 2024, the Air India Group will take delivery of one new aircraft every six days,” Campbell Wilson, CEO of Air India and chairman of Air India Express. “The merger of AirAsia India and Air India Express is at an advanced stage. The planning and approvals for the merger of Air India and Vistara are proceeding well. And India’s largest training academy is well on track in taking shape,” he further said.