AirAsia India has merged with Air India Express, transferring 20 Airbus A320 aircraft and 3,000 employees to the unified entity.

While the transition to a single brand (Air India Express) took place in October 2024, the operational merger of two airlines was completed on Tuesday, with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA) issuing an updated air operator certificate.

On Monday night, the last flight under the I5 designator code operated between Goa and Bengaluru, bringing an end to company’s decade-long journey.

Incidentally AirAsia India’s first flight had operated on the Bengaluru-Goa route in June, 2014.

The merged airline has 88 aircraft, around 7,000 employees and operates 400 flights daily to 46 destinations.

“The integration of AIX Connect (AirAsia India) with Air India Express is an important milestone in Air India’s Vihaan.ai transformation journey. The merged entity will cater to the growing demand for air travel around India and in the region,” Air India’s managing director and CEO Campbell Wilson said, in a statement.

With the key merger milestone achieved the airline will now focus on growth and transformation phase, Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh wrote, in a staff email.

Plans include increasing fleet size to 100 by March 2025 and network expansion within India and overseas.

The number of routes the airline operates has risen from 74 to 171 and passengers carried increased by 400 per cent since Tata takeover of Air India in January 2022.

In a statement, the DGCA said, the merger required the alignment of facilities, personnel, procedures, and fleet assets spread across multiple locations.

Tasks included harmonisation of operating manuals, review of organisation structures, setting harmonised training requirements and regulatory inspections.

To ensure the process remained on track, DGCA created a live tracker for real-time monitoring of progress at a granular level.

This live tracker was shared by DGCA with the senior management of the airline as a facilitative intervention tool to continuously review and assess progress, including timelines, it said.

“Our rigorous review ensures that this merger serves the public interest by fostering safe air operations while enhancing the overall travel experience for consumers. The insights gained from this experience will prove valuable for the upcoming merger of Air India and Vistara, which is currently in progress,” Director General of Civil Aviation Vikram Dev Dutt said.