Air India Express (AIX) has taken the sky with new livery and new identity after the merger of Air India Express and Air Asia India. I was looking forward to flying them once to check out what has changed and what remained the same.
I had a work trip to Chennai scheduled and I decided to take Air India Express (AIX). Though this is a very short sector, but it still gets more than 85% occupancy for every flight operating this sector.
Coming to timings, I had the option to fly IndiGo which departed at 07:00am IST in the morning. This would mean leaving home at 4:30am IST.
AIX had better timings with this flight departing at 08:05am IST. Even for my return leg, I chose AIX just for the good timing. It would allow me to complete my work and do some shopping before flying back. So, sit back and enjoy the trip report.
Air India Express: Bengaluru to Chennai
Flight Details:
- Flight Number – I5 763 (BLR-MAA)
- Departure Airport – Kempegowda International Airport (Bengaluru)
- Arrival Airport –Chennai International Airport
- Registration – VT-ATE, 3.3 years old during the time of flight.
- Aircraft Type –Airbus A320neo
Pre-Check-in Experience
The company revamped their website and application after the merger was completed. This now sports a bright orange color with their new livery. The application was quite straight forward and easy to use as well. I could do web check-in without any hassle.
Arrival at Bengaluru Airport
As usual I arrived to airport using the local bus service and took shuttle service provided by airport to reach T2 from T1. The new terminal T2 still doesn’t fail to amaze me. It has one of the best interiors by far after Mumbai International Airport.
Check-in
I always love to collect a printed boarding card just as a memory of the flights I take, hence even though I did not have any luggage for check-in I headed towards the counter to collect my boarding pass.
Security Check
Security check was quick as well, some factors like weekday contributed in less crowd which is always a bliss.
The security check at Bengaluru airport has always been well organized and with the help of DigiYatra the process was efficient. So, in roughly about 5 minutes I had cleared the security check and was headed towards the gate.
Boarding Experience
The flight started boarding on time. The aircraft belonged to Air Asia India and, after the merger, the airline had painted the aircraft, red removing the logo of Air Asia India. The cabin crew greeted me with a smile as soon as I entered the aircraft.
The Seat
This aircraft comes in 3-3 standard configuration, and I was seated on seat 28F. Leg space was not the best, especially after having flown with Vistara and Air India it felt too cramped to me.
The airline had definitely worked on changing the interior which now sported their “X” logo on the head rest and even the safety card as well. Their food menu had no signs of the former Air Asia India. After nearly more than 15 flights with Air Asia India, it’s the first time I was greeted by a clean window without any stains. So, kudos to the new change in the airline.
Air India Express has also introduced something called “AirFlix”, which is their wireless streaming app. This is supposed to have movies and options to shop for products. This facility was available when the aircraft were with Air Asia India. It never worked then and it did not work now.
In-flight Service
As this was a very short sector (not more than 20 – 25 minutes in the air) there were no sales on-board. Passengers who had pre-booked their meals had food served. I must acknowledge the crew, as within a short span of time they handed out all the pre-booked meals. They also provided a bottle of water to all the passengers.
Arrival at Chennai
We arrived at Chennai Airport 5 minutes before our scheduled time of arrival.
Conclusion
Air India Express has a lot of potential as an airline has allocated slots in the key airports like Delhi and Mumbai. Their sister company Air India already has a vast network of flights on international route and Air Asia Express already had a good presence in Tier 2 cities.
AIX is poised to improve connectivity between tier 2 cities and the international network of Air India. Also, to mention a benefit the airline has over its competitors like IndiGo – they have an oven on-board their aircraft.
For quite some time, IndiGo has been criticized for its meal choices on-board. Passengers wouldn’t mind shelling extra money on international sector to get a decent meal option. Just how well AIX capitalizes on this opportunity is yet to be seen.
Click the banner to subscribe to our weekly newsleter.
Click the photo to join our WhatsApp channel so then you can stay up to date with everything going on in the aviation industry!