Air India’s low-cost subsidiary carrier Air India Express has increased its fleet size to 100 aircraft with the arrival of a new Boeing 737 MAX 8.
The 18-year-old airline announced its new addition on March 10, 2025, as staff posed for photos with the Boeing 737 MAX 8, registered VT-BWI, while waving flags to celebrate the occasion.
Air India Express described the arrival, which features Karnataka’s Chittara tail art, as a “new milestone in our incredible journey”.
“With our fleet nearly doubling since the integration and relaunch of Air India Express, we’ve been expanding at record speed, now connecting 54 destinations across India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia,” the airline said. “With over 500 daily flights by the end of this month, we’re proudly bringing people, places, and cultures together like never before!”
In November 2022, Tata signed agreements to acquire a 100% stake in AirAsia India and merge the airline with Air India Express to form a single Indian low-cost carrier.
100 aircraft and growing!With the induction of its latest B737Max featuring Chittara from Karnataka, @airindia’s subsidiary @AirIndiaX now has a fleet of 100 aircraft.Between them, they now have a fleet of over 300 aircraft and are well placed to take on @IndiGo6E.#AvGeek pic.twitter.com/zbPqFTUVBV
— VT-VLO (@Vinamralongani) March 10, 2025
As part of the new direction with Air India, Air India Express unveiled a new approach with renewed branding and livery style.
“The induction of our 100th aircraft marks a defining moment in the growth and transformation journey of Air India Express. In just over three years since privatisation, we integrated and merged the LCC airlines, while scaling up rapidly with a modern and fuel-efficient fleet, broad-basing our domestic network, and deepening and expanding our Middle East and Southeast Asia routes,” said Aloke Singh, Managing Director, Air India Express.
He added: “Today, we have a formidable presence in the Indian market focused towards tier 2 and tier 3 cities, the emerging hotspots of the economy, playing a pivotal role in the next stage of India’s aviation growth story.”
The new Boeing 737 MAX 8 arrived in February 2025 and was formally operated by China Eastern Yunnan Airlines, according to planespotters.net.
The five-year-old aircraft entered service with Air India Express on March 7, 2025, and has been flying passengers between Guwahati International Airport (GAU), Bengaluru Kempegowda International Airport (BLR) and Imphal Airport (IMF) in recent days, according to flightradar24.
Tarun Shukla from the Economic Times reported that Air India Express currently operates 12 A320neos, 24 A320ceos, 26 Boeing 737s and 38 737-8s.
