Air India Express expects to post an operating profit in the second half of the current fiscal ending March 2026, and plans to invest $70 million for refurbishing the cabin interiors of its planes, according to a senior executive.
Buoyed by increasing market share, improving business opportunities and expanding fleet, the Tata Group-owned airline is aiming to have a fleet of 300 planes and an overall market share of 25% by the financial year 2030-31.
Currently, the airline has more than 100 aircraft, including Boeing 737 MAXs, Boeing 737 NGs and Airbus A320s.
At a town hall with employees on Wednesday, Air India Express Chairman Nipun Aggarwal said the airline is projected to report an operating profit in the second half of 2025-26, according to staff present at the meeting.
The expected operating profit reflects improving unit economics, disciplined cost management and stronger operational performance, despite prevailing industry challenges, Aggarwal said.
Besides, he said the airline would be investing $70 million for standardisation of the aircraft cabin interiors, including that of Boeing 737 NG planes.
In the current fleet, there are 26 Boeing 737 NGs that will undergo refurbishments, and the retrofit of 50 Boeing 737 MAXs has already commenced.
Among the Boeing 737 MAXs, over 40 have business class seats, and Air India Express will be retrofitting them to make them all-economy as well as upgrading the interiors.
The focus is to position Air India Express as a value carrier to provide a premium experience to the passengers that is between a low-cost carrier and a full-service carrier.
Aggarwal told the town hall that the airline is now the second largest Indian airline in terms of domestic routes, while 54% of its total capacity is deployed on international routes and 46% on domestic segments.
After Tata Group took over loss-making Air India and then profit-making Air India Express in January 2022, there was a consolidation of the airline under which AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India) was merged with Air India Express in October 2023.
In January, Air India Express’ first custom-made Boeing 737 plane post privatisation entered into service in January.
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