Air India Express to remove B737-8 business class cabins

Air India Express (IX, Delhi International) will phase out its small business class cabin on certain B737 aircraft because the cabin type does not properly align with its low-cost airline model, according to an Indian Express newspaper report. The aircraft were originally ordered by other carriers who later cancelled, and Air India Express ended up acquiring the aircraft with the original cabin configurations.

According to ch-aviation fleets data, Air India Express has a business class on 30 of its thirty-three B737-8s. The newspaper reported that the aircraft were ordered by Chinese operators and later picked up by Air India for its subsidiary. Air India Express initially decided to leave the aircraft as is because of the time and cost involved in retrofitting them to an all-economy configuration but has now changed its mind.

“Having a business class on a part of our fleet really does not fit well with our business model," an unnamed official told the daily. "We have been offering a premium product on these white-tails mainly because the planes already came with business class seats and we wanted to press them into operations at the earliest, instead of spending too much time on reconfiguring the cabin."

Air India has a large aircraft order in place, which includes 190 B737 MAX types. Of that number, 50 were aircraft previously ordered by other operators and later cancelled, and 140 will be built by Boeing per Air India's specifications. As part of this order, Air India Express expects to take delivery of some more business class equipped B737-8s before the end of the year. These will also be reconfigured into an all-economy layout.

According to the ch-aviation PRO airlines module, Air India Express flies to 49 destinations in nine countries. Its fleet includes one A320-200, four A320-200Ns, thirty-three B737-8s, and twenty-six B737-800s. The airline is in the process of merging with AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India) and expects to see its total fleet increase to 100 by the end of the year and 180 by the end of 2028.