Air India Express and AirAsia India on Monday announced the beginning of interline bookings to provide customers with a seamless experience amid the ongoing merger process.
Through this feature, the passengers will be able to book a single itinerary for both airlines, including a single Passenger Name Record (PNR) on the common website and other online travel agents, according to a joint statement by the two airlines.
For instance, with the interline arrangement, passengers can book a Lucknow- Delhi-Sharjah itinerary under a single PNR and receive their boarding passes for both Lucknow to Delhi and Delhi to Sharjah, at the beginning of their journey in Lucknow itself.
However, passengers will have to fulfill customs and immigration formalities at the airport where the connecting flight is being boarded.
AirAsia India which has been renamed as AIX Connect operates on domestic routes and is in the process of integrating and merging with Air India Express, which flies on international routes.
With a combined fleet of 54 aircraft, both airlines together connect 44 destinations, operating over 250 routes across India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, according to the statement. The airlines have already integrated ancillary add-on services and sub-brands.
Aloke Singh, Managing Director, Air India Express and AirAsia India, said, “Our ongoing efforts towards integrating Air India Express and AirAsia India, even as we proceed with the full merger, is now bearing fruit, with a strong, integrated network emerging. The network footprint stretches across India, Gulf & the Middle East, and Southeast Asia and will be further strengthened with our forthcoming fleet expansion.” “The interline arrangement enables guests to seamlessly book and connect across sectors operated by the two airlines, as if it were already one network. This is just the beginning of the remarkable value proposition we aim to deliver, and we look forward to further enriching travel experiences,” Singh added.
The two airlines launched a unified website in March to provide access of both the airlines on a single platform.
AirAsia India flies over 50 direct and over 100 connecting routes across 19 destinations in India including Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Kochi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam, Imphal, Guwahati, Goa, Jaipur, Lucknow, Surat, Bagdogra, Ranchi, and Srinagar. Air India Express operates to 14 international destinations including Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Muscat, Salalah, Sharjah, Singapore, Ras-Al-Khaimah, Riyadh, & Jeddah, from Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangalore, Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Mumbai, Amritsar, Lucknow, Jaipur, Varanasi, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Madurai, Vijayawada, Bengaluru, Kannur, Surat, and Hyderabad.
