Tata-owned Air India has completed its brand refresh with the unveiling of a new logo and brand identity for its subsidiary airline and Low Cost Carrier (LCC), Air India Express. The airline had recently unveiled a new global brand identity and aircraft livery in August. Air India Express, together with its parent company Air India, was successfully privatised in January 2022, when ownership of the former reverted to the Tata group that had initially founded Air India.
'We are proud to present the refreshed brand identity for Air India Express, a vitally important part of the Air India Group and New India's Smart Connector. Charged with providing the best value, accessibility, and enhanced connectivity in the domestic and short-haul international network, Air India Express is set to become the airline of a new generation,” said Campbell Wilson, Chairman, Air India Express.
Air India is currently also in the process of merging AirAsia India into Air India Express, and when completed, coupled with new aircraft being inducted will make it India’s 2nd largest LCC after industry giant IndiGo. The Air India Express and AirAsia India merger is now in its final stages. AirAsia India started commercial operations in 2013 as a joint venture between Tata Sons Private Limited and AirAsia Aviation Group Limited.
New Identity
Air India Express unveiled its logo and brand identity in a very well-choreographed event in Mumbai and by all accounts has successfully transformed itself into a younger and more vibrant brand. Moreover, the choice of an energetic and premium colour palette of Express Orange and Express Turquoise with Express Tangerine and Express Ice Blue as secondary colours, immediately puts Air India Express ahead of many LCCs which have staid two-tone colour schemes.
According to Air India Express officials, the choice of the dominant Express Orange colour was made to symbolise Air India Express’ brand values of enthusiasm and agility while reflecting the positioning of quintessential Indian warmth. The Express Turquoise embodies the brand personality traits of style with a contemporary premium sensibility and a digital-first approach, officials said.
Air India Express’ new visual identity is very similar to that unveiled by Air India in August, yet very different. The former has chosen a more energetic aircraft livery to fit in with its proposition of ‘Fly As You Are’. It also unveiled a catchy new musical logo. This new livery was shown to have a good effect on the LCC’s first Boeing 737 MAX 8, which drew inspiration from the Bandhani textile design. Each aircraft will feature a variable tailfin design with a theme ‘The patterns of India’ which is inspired by the rich art and craft heritage of the country. This will include traditional patterns like Ajrakh, Patola, Kanjeevaram, Kalamkari, etc, and will adhere to Air India Express’ tradition of having different tail arts on its aircraft.
Joining the Battle
Hitherto largely focussed on the lucrative routes to the Middle-East, transporting the Indian diaspora there; Air India Express is expected to take the battle to Indian LCCs in the domestic market from 2025 onwards, when it will have a substantial fleet of new and fuel-efficient Boeing 737 MAX jetliners. A longstanding Boeing 737-800 NG operator, Air India Express will operate these aeroplanes at high-frequency to ensure profitable operations. Air India Express presently operates a fleet of 58 aircraft, comprising 28 Boeing 737s and 28 Airbus A320s, the latter belonging to Air Asia India.
Air India Express is also rapidly inducting new aircrafts to grow its fleet. Fifty new jetliners are planned to be inducted into the fleet over the next 15 months, doubling the airline’s size. “Over the course of the next 5 years, we aim to grow to a fleet of about 170 narrow-body aircraft, with a network spanning the domestic India and short-haul international markets,” Singh said.
It is expected that Air India Express will revert to an all-Boeing fleet and transfer its Airbus A320 aircraft to Air India.
Air India Express will also benefit from the economies of scale it will have access to as being part of Air India. An example of this is the recently commissioned mega warehouse facility in Delhi, which will be able to store more than 1,000,000 engineering spares. Campbell Wilson, CEO and MD, Air India said the warehouse would offer more proximate access and better control over Air India’s aircraft spares enabling it to meet any engineering requirements promptly - leading to improved punctuality of flights. Air India’s warehouse is located in the cargo complex of Delhi Airport's Air Cargo Logistics division and will significantly improve the turnaround of Air India Express flights operating out of Delhi.
The warehouse will fulfill engineering resource requirements for maintenance and service of the Air India, Air India Express and AIX Connect fleets from a centralized location. It will also result in the consolidation of 16 subscale and scattered locations spread across Delhi and Mumbai into the consolidated state-of-the-art facility that will function as a hub and feeder network for operations throughout India.
Successful Venture
Set up in 2005, Air India Express is India’s first budget LCC airline operating on regional international routes with direct point-to-point services connecting key cities in India with destinations in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The carrier has emerged as the largest LCC on the India-Gulf route and today connects 34 destinations in India and abroad with over 700 flights per week. In FY 2019-20, Air India Express operated to 14 international destination and 21 Indian cities, with USD 691 million revenues that year. It has one of the lowest unit costs in the world and reported five years of consecutive net profits up to 2020. Air India Express shares its headquarters with Air India in Gurgaon.
Also Read