One year of ‘one Air India Express’: From branding to route mix changes, the airline tackles a plethora of challenges

October 01, 2025, will mark a year since the completion of the merger of AIX Connect (erstwhile AirAsia India) with Air India Express. The merged entity, which is now over four times what it was at the time of privatisation, has grown through every possible means — merger, induction of new aircraft and transfer of planes from the parent Air India. However, in its new avatar, it has left behind the pure LCC (Low Cost Carrier) mindset, not just because of the dual class planes in service which will eventually be moved to single class but also because of the multiple types it has, including both Airbus and Boeing. The airline ought to be celebrating the one year of the merger; instead, it is at the receiving end on social media with its planned cancellations to the Gulf from Kerala in focus, which has seen Trivandrum MP Shashi Tharoor join in as well.