One of the first initiatives under the ongoing consolidation of airlines at the Tata conglomerate was the merger of the AirAsia India and Air India Express airlines, which were no-frill carriers operating in different domains altogether. The competition regulatory authority gave its go-ahead a few months ago. Since then, one website and customer service have been offered to both airlines, and many activities have been combined. However, they operated under different brand names while the clock to give up on the AirAsia India name ticked on.
AirAsia India gets permission to move to the Air India Express brand name.
AIX Connect (the airline after it was fully acquired from AirAsia), operating as AirAsia India and a subsidiary of Air India, yesterday hit a significant milestone in its ongoing integration process with Air India Express. The airline received regulatory approvals to operate its flights under the ‘Air India Express’ branding. This development marks a significant fast-tracking of the integration efforts, including the harmonisation of customer touchpoint, products, and services across both airlines.
The approval from the regulator allows both Air India Express Ltd. and AIX Connect flights to be marketed, distributed and operated under a common brand name, ‘Air India Express’, prior to the subsequent scheduled legal merger of the two entities. This should allow Air India Express to send aircraft, which are currently operating in red colours but without any branding, in the coming months after the new brand reveal is done for a paint job.
AIX Connect A320 VT-VTZ without "Air Asia" branding spotted at @Jaipur_Airport today!@AirIndiaX #AirIndia #AIXConnect #avgeek #PlaneSpotting #PlaneSpotter #Jaipur pic.twitter.com/GhMQGLPKEu
— Harsh Tekriwal (@avgeekwithlens) June 23, 2023
Over the past few months, Air India Express and AirAsia India have taken significant steps towards integration. In March, the airlines introduced a unified website, airindiaexpress.com, providing a comprehensive user interface, enabling users to access the services of both carriers on a single platform.
In their pursuit of enhancing the in-flight experience, Air India Express recently introduced AirAsia India’s ‘Gourmair’ in-flight dining menu. Earlier this month, ‘Xpress Ahead’ priority services were extended as an ancillary add-on to guests of both airlines, offering priority check-in, boarding and baggage. Both airlines will also be synergising other ancillary add-on services and common sub-brands.
Bottomline
AirAsia India will transition to Air India Express, the brand retained after the merger of the two airlines was initiated. A combination of the companies is already underway, and eventually, the last step would be the combination of the AOCs, and it becomes one unified airline.
What do you think about the AirAsia India brand going away?
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