Air India Express (IX, Mumbai Int’l) plans to add four more B737s to its fleet of twenty-four B737-800s in response to the rapid recovery in demand, an inside source told the Press news agency. Trust of India (PTI). .
“In the short term, the airline may take four aircraft on bare lease to increase capacity during the interim period. These aircraft will only be used to increase frequency and consolidate existing routes,” the source said.
The source did not specify whether the aircraft would be B737-800s or another variant. The timing of the induction is also unclear.
Air India Express operates domestic and international short-haul routes under its own code, although it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India (AI, Mumbai Int’l). The source said Air India Express had a business plan to grow to 50 aircraft by 2025 which was passed in 2018 but was later thwarted when the government privatized its parent company. Now, however, as Air India has returned to the private ownership of Tata Sons, Air India Express is poised to finally expand. The carrier sees the need to increase the fleet to recoup some of the lost market share to expanding low-cost carriers.
“The competition is growing every day, and we have to keep up with that,” the source said.
Air India did not respond to ch-aviation’s request for comment.
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