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Air India Express and AirAsia India have moved to a unified reservation system, whereby passengers can make bookings for both airlines through an integrated website. The move is part of the ongoing process of merging AirAsia India with Air India Express. The combined entity will focus on leisure-oriented and price-sensitive markets. On March 27, the two airlines moved to a single, unified reservations system and website, and adopted common social media and customer support channels. This migration, which largely involved Air India Express migrating to the systems used by AirAsia India, confers significant capability and efficiency benefits for the airline and passengers, a release said on Tuesday. The development comes five months after AirAsia India was fully acquired by Air India, and three months after both AirAsia India and Air India Express were placed under a single CEO. "Passengers are now able to make and manage bookings, and check-in to AirAsia India and Air India Express
Air India on Wednesday said an operational review process is underway to integrate budget carrier AirAsia India with Air India Express and the merger is likely by the end of 2023. Tata group-owned Air India has also signed agreements to have a 100 per cent stake in AirAsia India. The carrier is a joint venture between Tata Sons and Air Asia Investment Ltd. Tata Sons has an 83.67 per cent stake and the remaining 16.33 per cent shareholding is with AirAsia. The merger, likely by the end of 2023, is aimed at having a single low-cost carrier for the Air India group. Post-merger, the entity will be branded as Air India Express, according to a statement. AirAsia India was launched in 2014 while Air India Express started operations back in 2005. The consolidation of the two low-cost carriers -- AirAsia India and Air India Express -- will be undertaken as part of the restructuring roadmap that is being envisioned for the Tata group's airline business, Air India said in a statement. "The .
The Tata Group has started an exercise to evaluate options to consolidate AirAsia India and Vistara under Air India to bring operational synergies among the three airlines under its umbrella, sources said. Air India, which the group had taken control of in January after winning the bid to acquire the national carrier for Rs 18,000 crore in October last year, has set up a team under its Director of Operations, R S Sandhu, sources familiar with the development said. The team will evaluate synergies in operations between Air India Express and AirAsia India as well as between Air India and Vistara, they said. "Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson has set up this team, which will look into synergy between Air India Express and AirAsia India and also between Air India and Vistara and how to achieve the merger," a source said. The team has been asked to submit its plan within one year, the source added. It is understood that the plan is to achieve consolidation of AirAsia India into Air