Air-India Express

Infobox_Airline
airline=Air India Express
एअर इंडिया एक्स्प्रेस

logo=AirIndiaExpressLogo.pnglogo_size=150
fleet_size=20 (+ 5 Orders)
destinations=30
IATA=IX
ICAO=AXB
callsign=EXPRESS INDIA
parent=Air India
founded=April 2005
headquarters=Mumbai, India
hubs=
*Trivandrum International Airport
*Cochin International Airport

focus_cities=
*Indira Gandhi International Airport
*Kozhikode International Airport
*Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport
*Chennai International Airport
*Mangalore International Airport

website= http://www.airindiaexpress.in/airindiaexpress/home.asp
frequent_flyer=
lounge=| alliance=
key_people= Chairman : Sri. Raghu Menon
Chief Operating Officer: Capt P.P. Singh
Chief Of Operations: Capt Jagmohan
Chief of Engineering: Mr A.R. Appukuttan
Chief of Training: Capt Rajeev Bajpai
Chief of Commercial: Mrs. Tara Naidu

Air-India Express ( _hi. एअर इंडिया एक्स्प्रेस) is a low-cost airline subsidiary of Air India based in Mumbai, India. It operates services mainly to the Middle East. Its main base is Cochin International Airport, Kochi, with a hub at Trivandrum International Airport, Thiruvananthapuram cite news | title= Directory: World Airlines | work= Flight International | page= 58 | date= 2007-03-27] .

History

The airline was established in May 2004 and started operations on 29 April 2005 with a flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Abu Dhabi. Delivery of the first aircraft for Air-India Express took place on 22 February 2005 when a new production Boeing 737-86Q (leased from Boullioun Aviation Services) was handed over. The airline has plans for expansion into Europe and America with the arrival of new aircraft.

The airline has been making huge profits on most routes. But after seeing Air India Express' success, many other carriers such as Air Arabia and Jazeera Airways have entered the India - Gulf market and many others such as Jetlite might enter

News

With the merger of the two major state owned airlines Indian Airlines and Air India it is said that Air India's subsidiary Air India Express will partly merge with Alliance Air, a fully owned subsidiary of Indian Airlines. As the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines has taken place in September 2007, their subsidiaries will partly merge as well. The Alliance Air larger aircraft fleet will partly be absorbed into the Air India Express fleet, some large aircraft are being converted to cargo for Air India Cargo and the smaller aircraft such as ATR and CRJ will operate under Air India Regional.Thus, there is Air India (after the Air India - Indian Airlines merger, the airline is called Air India), and its subsidiaries Air India Express (combining the former Air India Express and some Alliance Air aircraft), Air India Regional and Air India Cargo.

Tail Art

Air India Express Planes have some unique in its category, they have unique tail-art in all their Boeing 737-800 flights. Every aircraft features a different tail design that reflects a facet of Indian Culture.

External Links to Photos:
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/65483667@N00/sets/72157594570144063/ Photos of tail art on flickr here]
* [http://www.airplane-pictures.net/news.php?p=90 Photos on www.Ariline-Pictures.net]

[ [http://www.flickr.com/photos/65483667@N00/tags/airindiaexpress Flickr - Rick Schlamp] ]

Destinations

Per their website, Air India Express operate to the following destinations as of July 2008:

Asia

South Asia

*flag|Bangladesh
**Dhaka - Zia Airport
*flag|India
**Andhra Pradesh
***Hyderabad - Shamshabad Airport
**Delhi
***Indira Gandhi Airport
**Goa
***Vasco da Gama - Dabolim Airport
**Gujarat
***Ahmedabad - Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport
**Karnataka
***Mangalore - Mangalore International Airport
**Kerela
***Calicut - Karipur Airport
***Cochin - Nedumbassery Airport
***Trivandrum - Trivandrum Airport
**Maharashtra
***Mumbai - Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport
***Nagpur - Sonegaon Airport
***Pune - Lohegaon Airport
**Punjab
***Amritsar - Raja Sansi Airport
**Rajasthan
***Jaipur - Sanganer Airport
**Tamil Nadu
***Chennai - Meenambakkam Airport
***Tiruchirapalli - Tiruchirapalli Airport
**Uttar Pradesh
***Lucknow - Amausi Airport
**West Bengal
***Kolkata - Subhash Chandra Bose Airport
*flag|Sri Lanka
**Colombo - Bandaranaike Airport

Southeast Asia

*flag|Malaysia
**Kuala Lumpur - Kuala Lumpur Airport
*flag|Singapore
**Changi Airport
*flag|Thailand
**Bangkok - Suvarnabhumi Airport

Southwest Asia

*flag|Bahrain
**Manama - Bahrain Airport
*flag|Kuwait
**Kuwait Airport
*flag|Oman
**Muscat - Seeb Airport
**Salalah - Salalah Airport
*flag|Qatar
**Doha - Doha Airport
*flag|United Arab Emirates
**Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi Airport
**Al Ain - Al Ain Airport
**Dubai - Dubai Airport
**Sharjah - Sharjah Airport

Fleet

As of October 2008 the Air India Express fleet includes

As of October 2008 the average age of the Air India Express Fleet is 1.45 years

External links

* [http://www.airindiaexpress.in/airindiaexpress/home.asp Air-India Express]
* [http://findhotel-swicki.eurekster.com/Air-India+Express/ Air-India Express Search]
* [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=IX&al_op=1 Air-India Express Fleet]

References

See also

*Air India