AIX Connect was a low-cost airline of India, operating scheduled passenger services on domestic and short-haul international routes. The carrier was the rebranded form of AirAsia India following its acquisition by the Tata group's aviation business, and it functioned as a subsidiary within the Air India family of airlines prior to its merger with Air India Express.
| Type | Low-cost airline |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Parent | Air India Limited (Tata Sons) |
| Predecessor | AirAsia India |
| Successor | Air India Express |
| Hubs | Bengaluru, Delhi |
The airline began life as AirAsia India, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Malaysia's AirAsia Investment Limited, which launched commercial operations in 2014 from its base at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru. After Tata Sons regained ownership of Air India in January 2022, it consolidated its aviation portfolio, acquiring AirAsia Berhad's remaining stake in the Indian venture and bringing the carrier fully under Tata control.
Following the buyout, the airline was renamed AIX Connect. Under this identity, it continued to operate a fleet of Airbus A320-family aircraft on a low-cost model, serving major Indian metropolitan cities and select Tier-2 destinations. Its livery, branding, and crew uniforms were progressively aligned with those of Air India Express, signalling its impending integration into the wider Tata low-cost aviation arm.
As part of the Tata group's strategy to consolidate its aviation businesses into two principal airlines — a full-service carrier (Air India) and a low-cost carrier (Air India Express) — AIX Connect was merged into Air India Express. The merger unified network planning, fleet, crew, and commercial systems under the Air India Express brand, ending AIX Connect's independent operation.
AIX Connect represented a transitional phase in the restructuring of Indian commercial aviation after the privatisation of Air India. Its short-lived existence reflected the consolidation of Tata-owned carriers — Air India, Vistara, Air India Express, and AIX Connect — into a streamlined two-brand structure intended to compete with IndiGo in the domestic low-cost segment and with Gulf carriers on international routes.