Air India Express

Air India Express was launched as a subsidiary of Air India on 29 April 2005. The airline was launched as a low-cost carrier focused on routes across South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Gulf region.. As a low-cost carrier, the airline operated point-to-point flights with multiple hubs all over India. Initially headquartered in Delhi, it was relocated to Kochi in 2013. While its parent entity Air India ran into operational losses in the 2010s, the airline continued to remain profitable. However, the airline operated with a fixed fleet of 24 aircraft for years, with no plans for expansion or modernisation.

On 8 October 2021, Tata Sons acquired Air India along with Air India Express and fifty percent of AISATS, a ground handling company, in a deal valued at ₹180 billion (equivalent to ₹220 billion or US$2.3 billion in 2026). Following the completion of the acquisition on 27 January 2022, the company became a part of Air India Limited. In 2023, the Tata Group sought to consolidate its holdings in various airline companies. It resulted in the group acquiring full control of AirAsia India, which was rebranded as AIX Connect, and proposed to be merged with Air India Express post the approval by authorities. In March 2023, the Tata Group announced the integration of both the airlines.

Post the acquisition and merger, the services operated by Air India Express were optimised to focus on low cost routes and complement the Air India network. On 18 October 2023, the airline was rebranded with a new logo and livery. In late 2023, the company moved its headquarters to Gurugram. The merger of AIX Connect and Air India Express was declared complete on 1 October 2024. At the time, the airline had a fleet of 88 aircraft and planned to increase it to 110 aircraft by the end of the year. In 2025, the airline unveiled a new cabin interior, and a new uniform for its cabin crew. The new cabin layout would be applied to the entire fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft and the Airbus A320 family aircraft that were transferred from Air India and AIX Connect, with the retrofit expected to be completed by mid 2026.

Destinations

Air India Express focuses on routes dominated by low cost carriers and which have a higher component of leisure customers. As of January 2026, the airline flies to 45 domestic destinations and 17 international destinations with primary hubs located in Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai. It flies to international destinations mainly in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Air India Express has codeshare agreements and interline agreements with Air India, Scoot and Singapore Airlines.

Fleet

As of August 2026, Air India Express operates the following aircraft:

Fleet information

During the 2023 Paris Air Show, Air India placed an order with Boeing for 470 aircraft, which included 190 737 MAX aircraft. The order was later transferred to Air India Express with deliveries commencing from September 2023. Subsequently, Air India Express revealed its plan to have a fleet of 170 aircraft within the next five years. The airline accepted deliveries of MAX 8 aircraft that were originally manufactured for a different airline. On 29 December 2025, the airline received its first MAX aircraft fitted specifically for the airline with an all-economy seating, and the 51st overall. It was assigned the aircraft registration VT-RNT in the honour of Ratan Tata.

Accidents and incidents

On 22 May 2010, Air India Express Flight 812, a Boeing 737–800 (registered as VT-AXV) flying in from Dubai overshot the runway on landing at Mangalore, killing 152 passengers and six crew members of the 166 people on board. The aircraft crashed into a wooded valley at the end of the runway and burst into flames. There were only eight survivors.

On 7 August 2020, Air India Express Flight 1344, a Boeing 737–800 (registered as VT-AXH), suffered a runway excursion on landing at Kozhikode. The aircraft fell into a valley after overrunning the table-top runway at the airport, killing 21 people on board including both pilots, and 76 sustained serious injuries (75 passengers and one cabin crew member). The remaining 93 suffered minor injuries or no injuries.