In what can be seen as a step to minimise inconvenience to travellers, Air India and AirAsia India, both owned by the Tata Group, have decided to accept each other’s domestic passengers in case one carrier’s flights are disrupted. They have a combined fleet strength of 233 aircraft. The arrangement, effective for two years starting from this month, will enable airport teams of both Air India and AirAsia to offer alternative first available flights so that inconvenience to passengers is minimised.

The two have signed an “interline considerations on irregular operations” (IROPs) agreement for two years that is valid up to February 9, 2024, to offer “first available alternate flights to minimise inconvenience to passengers.”

“The carriage of passengers shall be on an ‘as available’ basis as determined by the airport manager of accepting airline. Decision of airport manager of accepting airline would be final as regards availability of seats,” says the IROPs agreement.  The agreement says that the departure of Air India should not be affected on account of acceptance of stranded passengers of Air Asia India.

"The agreement under discussion is a standard agreement airlines enter with each other to re-accommodate guests in the event of last minute disruptions.

We already have similar agreements with almost all other Indian carriers," an AirAsia spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday.

However, carriage of passengers will be on an "as available" basis as determined by the airport manager of accepting airline, it stated. Last month, Tata Group completed the takeover of Air India.