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Air India Express

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Air India Express
IATA ICAO Call sign
IX AXB EXPRESSINDIA
Commenced operations29 April 2005
HubsKochi
Secondary hubs
Fleet size25
Destinations30
Parent companyAir India
HeadquartersKochi, Kerala, India
Key people
  • Pradeep Singh Kharola IAS (Chairman)[1]
  • K Shyam Sundar (CEO)[2]
Websitewww.airindiaexpress.in

Air India Express is an Indian low-cost airline headquartered in Kochi, Kerala. It is operated by Air India Express Limited (AIEL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Indian flag carrier airline Air India.[3] It operates around 550 flights per week to 30 destinations including the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The airline carries around 3.8 million passengers every year connecting 107 city pairs.[4]

History

Air India Express came to being on 29 April 2005, with the launch of three flights that took off simultaneously from Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. The airline was launched as a low-cost carrier (LCC) with the objective of providing convenient connectivity, to short-haul international routes, in the Middle East and Southeast Asia for the Indian expatriate community. Air India Express was Air India’s response to the growing popularity of LCCs worldwide and in the region. Being an LCC, the airline operates point-to-point flights with multiple hubs all over India.[5]

In December 2012, Air India ratified the proposal to move the headquarters to Kochi in January 2013 and for establishing a new MRO base at Thiruvananthapuram.[6][7] Presently, the airline carries out 596 weekly departures, involving about 1400 flight hours at an average stage length of about 3 hours and 45 minutes. In terms of capacity, the airline offers about 170 million ASKMs per week. Its distribution system is entirely web-based. The company also launched the Air India Express Mobile App for making and modifying bookings and other customer and in-flight services.[8]

Revenue

On 3 September 2016 the company announced that it had earned a net profit for the first time since its inception. As per the accounts placed and approved by airline’s Board of Directors (on 31 August 2016), the airline made a net profit of Rs.361.68 Cr. in FY 2015-16 against the loss of Rs. 61 Cr. registered in FY 2014-15. In the FY 2015-16, the airline witnessed a passenger load factor of 82.3% against 81.4% in the previous year, while average daily aircraft utilization rose to 11.3 hours from 10.8 hours. The airline carried around 2.80 million passengers against 2.62 million carried in the previous year.[9] As per a press release dated 30 November 2016, the airline has earned net profit of Rs. 415 Crores, as per the unaudited half yearly accounts placed and approved by the airline’s Board of Directors (on 29 November 2016). The airline has achieved operating revenue of Rs. 1897 Crores against Rs. 1609 Crores, earned in first half of financial year 15- 16. The airline has carried 1.64 million passengers during the period.[10]

As per the accounts placed and approved by Airline’s Board of Directors (on 28 June 2017), Air India Express has made net profit of Rs.296.7 Cr. in FY 2016-17.[11] The revenues increased by 14% recording total revenue of Rs. 3335 Cr. Average daily aircraft utilization rose to 12.2 hours from 11.3 hours. The capacity offered by the Airline went up by 33%, the fleet size progressively increased from 17 to 23 aircraft, and the number of passengers carried increased by 22% to reach the level of 3.42 million from 2.8 million in 2015-16.[12]

Destinations

Main article: List of Air India Express destinations

Air India Express focuses on providing international flights from Tier II cities in India, to the Gulf and South East Asia. The airline flies to 30 destinations as of January 2018 with a primary hub located at Cochin International Airport in Kochi.[13][14][15].

On the domestic front, the airline operates from the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharastra.

Codeshare agreements

Current Fleet

Air India Express Boeing 737-800
Air India Express Fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
Boeing 737-800 25 — 186
Total 25 —

Accidents and incidents

On 22 May 2010, Air India Express Flight 812, a Boeing 737-800 (registered VT-AXV) flying on the Dubai–Mangalore route, overshot runway 24 on landing at Mangalore Airport, killing 152 passengers and 6 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 eight survivors.[17][18][19][20][21]

See also

References

  1. ^ "IAS Pradeep Singh Kharola appointed new chairman of Air India". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  2. ^ "Air India Charters gets K Shyam Sundar as new CEO from March". Indian Express. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Air India to achieve fiscal targets". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  4. ^ "About Air India Express". Air India Express. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  5. ^ "India's common man flies". The Asia Times Online. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  6. ^ Ramavarman, T. (14 December 2012). "Shifting of Air India Express headquarters to Kochi gets nod". Times of India. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  7. ^ "Air India Express route scheduling from city soon". The Hindu. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  8. ^ "The changing face of Air India Express". News Xpress. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  9. ^ "Air India Express turns profitable for the first time". Economic Times. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  10. ^ "Air India Express nets profit of Rs 415 crore". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  11. ^ "Air India Express clocks ₹297-cr profit in FY-17". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  12. ^ "Air India Express clocks net profit for second year". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  13. ^ "Summer timetable 2017: 26th March 2017 to 28th October 2017" (PDF). Air India Express. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  14. ^ "Madurai-Singapore flight service to start from September 15". Times of India. Retrieved 2 August 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "Air India Express airline profile". CAPA Centre for Aviation. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  16. ^ "Air India begins Air India Express codeshare partnership from Dec 2016". Airlineroute. Retrieved 6 December 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "Jet crash kills 158 in India; 8 survive". 23 May 2010. Archived from the original on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "Indian official: 158 dead in Air India plane crash in Mangalore". Wire Update/BNO News. 22 May 2010. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "Air India flight from Dubai crashes in India". MSNBC. 21 May 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  20. ^ "Casualties feared in Air India crash". CNN. 22 May 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  21. ^ "India plane crash in Mangalore leaves nearly 160 dead". BBC News. 22 May 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2016.

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