Air India Express Plans Major Fleet Expansion with 20-24 New Aircraft in 2025

Air India Express To Induct 20-24 Aircraft In Fleet Next Year

Mumbai:

Air India's budget carrier Air India Express plans to add between 20 and 24 aircraft to its fleet in the upcoming calendar year, according to a senior airline executive on Tuesday.

The current Air India fleet consists of 110 aircraft, including Airbus 320/321, Boeing 737 and 737 Max models.

"We are looking at about 20 to 24 aircraft in the next calendar year," stated Air India Express Managing Director Aloke Singh during an event showcasing the airline's first retrofitted aircraft.

Singh noted that these deliveries would be contingent upon supply chain factors and production progress at Boeing's manufacturing facilities.

He revealed that Air India Express is focusing on expanding its domestic market presence, which is expected to grow more rapidly than its international network.

"About two years ago, as much as 60 percent of the network was short-haul international network and the remaining 40 percent domestic. Today, it is about 50-50 percent. We have been growing international short-haul as well. But we have been growing faster in the domestic Indian market," Singh explained.

Over the next couple of years, Air India Express will continue this trajectory, with domestic network expansion outpacing international short-haul growth.

"On the domestic network, the strategy broadly is depth before spread," he emphasized.

Singh highlighted that the airline aims to establish a significant presence on specific city pairs, targeting approximately one-third market share in these routes.

"Our focus continues to be metro to tier 2, tier 3 cities," he added.

Examining the airline's network structure reveals that approximately 80 percent of its domestic capacity connects metros to non-metro tier 2 and tier 3 cities, representing the largest and fastest-growing segment of the domestic market.

"Air India focuses on the metro-to-metro routes and the routes which have a greater composition of business traffic and, of course, long-haul international routes," Singh clarified.

He concluded by stating that "Air India Express is focusing on the leisure markets, the BFR, the best reference and revenues market, the SME market, the value-conscious market, which is primarily metro-to non-metro, as well as the short-haul regional international."