Air India kicked off an international expansion at the end of April with the launch of its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express.
The new airline's fleet initially comprises three leased Boeing 737-800s in all-economy class layouts. In its initial phase it will operate more than 30 weekly flights to destinations in the Middle East including Abu Dhabi, Al-Ain, Dubai, Muscat and Salalah. Flights will operate from the Indian cities of Delhi, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram.
Air India has said its subsidiary will have quick aircraft turnarounds at airports and will sell its inventory over the internet to keep costs down. Air India Express plans to expand its fleet with more leased 737-800s, as well as 18 further aircraft that it hopes to get government approval to purchase from Boeing. In addition to serving more Middle Eastern destinations, it aims to expand to South-East Asia with flights to Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
Air India itself is meanwhile preparing to expand long-haul passenger services to North America. It is also planning to increase its UK services, in addition to launching services to Seoul in South Korea. The expansion comes as it faces challenges from privately owned Air Sahara and Jet Airways, which are preparing to launch their first services to the UK and the USA.
Both Air Sahara and Jet are established domestic players that only launched international services early last year to destinations within south Asia. Late last year the carriers also secured government approval to operate outside of the south Asian region, although the Middle East will be off-limits to them for three years.
Air Sahara began daily flights to Singapore from Delhi in mid-May but a shortage of pilots has delayed the start of its Chennai to Kuala Lumpur service until mid-June. Other services to Hong Kong and Bangkok are planned.
Source: Airline Business
