Air India Express seeks final NCLT approval for merger

Air India Express (AIX) has now filed the second motion for the final hearing stage in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) with respect to the upcoming AIX Connect merger.

India’s Tata Group is presently on track to complete its consolidation and merger process for its stable of four airlines, creating one premium full-service carrier and one low-cost carrier.

The group anticipates gaining regulatory approval with the grant of an air operators’ certificate in March 2024.

The focus of the AIX carrier will then centre around tier II and III regional cities. According to a recent report in the Times of India, low-cost airline AIX CEO Aloke Singh said:

“We have 62 aircraft as of now. In the next 12 months we will induct 50 new Boeing 737 MAX. After phasing out some planes, AIX will have about 98 aircraft in its fleet by next December.”

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Singh went on to outline plans for network consolidation saying: “for instance when we started flying to Surat, we did so from Delhi. Then quickly we had direct flights from their two Bengaluru, Kolkata, Sharjah and Dubai.”

Air India Express is a subsidiary of Air India and a part of the Tata group, operating over 300 flights daily across 30 domestic and 14 international airports, with a fleet of 57 aircraft, comprising 29 Boeing 737s and 28 Airbus A320s.

The carrier recently finalized an agreement to purchase and leaseback ten Boeing 737-8 aircraft, with the first aircraft touching down in November 2023.

The remaining nine are set to follow suit into the first quarter of 2024, however AIX like Indian carrier Akasa Air has been hampered by the slowdown created by ongoing global supply chain problems.

The merged low-cost airline is expected to be a prime rival to the major low-cost Indian airline IndiGo.

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