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Air India exits 7 cities as Express expands
Livemint··9 Sept
Air India is exiting smaller domestic markets as Air India Express takes over, focusing on international and metro routes. In August Air India stopped serving seven cities including Coimbatore, Bhopal and Madurai, with Express starting there on September 1. Express carried over 26 million passengers in fiscal 2026. Combined net loss was Rs 22,238 crore in FY26.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Routes including Mumbai-Kochi and Kochi-Delhi have also moved to the low-cost carrier.
- Express new services connect the cities with Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.
- Analyst Jainam Shah said Express can feed passengers from smaller cities into international hubs.
What's Happening
- The shift was decided under outgoing CEO Campbell Wilson before his successor's townhall.
- Express operated at 46 domestic and 17 international stations in FY26.
- The transition between the two Tata airlines has run for more than two years.
FY26 financial backdrop
- Air India and Air India Express together reported revenue falling nearly 9 percent to Rs 71,870 crore.
- Air India accounted for Rs 15,368 crore of the combined loss and Express Rs 6,767 crore.
- Express had 108 aircraft in FY26 while Air India had 185.
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