Air India Express booking check, Fare Lock and Gulf flights

How to look up a booking on Air India Express

1. 1Open airindiaexpress.com and go to Manage booking.
2. 2Enter the PNR or booking reference. Air India Express describes it as six characters long.
3. 3In the second box, enter the first name, last name, email address or mobile number used on the booking.
4. 4No PNR to hand? Use the option to retrieve an itinerary without it.
5. 5Check every passenger name against the passport, then confirm the date and the sectors.

Air India Express Fare Lock or a visa flight reservation

Fare Lock holds a fare for up to seven days. Air India Express charges ₹500 for a domestic flight and ₹850 for an international one, paid upfront and not refundable. It is sold only on the official website, the number of seats that can be locked on each flight is limited, and the airline says it may cancel a lock early. It is not available on codeshare or group fares and cannot be combined with offers.

Two conditions matter for applicants. Names go in at the time of locking, “as mentioned in the Passport or AADHAR Card”, and cannot be replaced later. And until the fare is paid in full through Manage Booking, with a convenience fee added at payment, you cannot board. A lock is a deposit towards a ticket you intend to buy, not a document designed for a visa file.

If you have not settled on Air India Express, or your visa decision will take longer than a week, a flight reservation is the lighter choice. The desk holds it in your name without payment, and the airline holding it decides when that unpaid hold ends; there is no fixed length. Ask for it on the day you submit, so its date and your file’s date line up.

Web check-in, confirmation slips and counter times

Web check-in opens 14 days before departure and closes two hours before, using the booking reference with a first or last name. The same FAQ mentions self check-in from 14 days to one hour before departure, which appears to describe the airport kiosks, so treat two hours as the online cut-off.

On international flights from India you receive a confirmation slip rather than a boarding pass. You present it at the check-in counter, your travel documents are verified, and only then is the boarding pass issued; you must be at the counter at least 60 minutes before departure. Counters open three hours before. They close 60 minutes before at most airports and 75 minutes before at Delhi and Kuwait. Boarding gates close 25 minutes before departure.

The check-in pages do not mention an OK to Board step for Gulf visas. If you are flying to the UAE on a visit visa, ask Air India Express what it needs for your visa type well before the day you fly.

From AirAsia India to Air India Express

On 1 October 2024 Air India Express merged with AIX Connect, the company that had been AirAsia India, to form one airline under the Air India Express name and the single code IX. Those flights are now booked, managed and checked in on airindiaexpress.com. The AirAsia group sold on airasia.com is a separate business.

Air India Express is wholly owned by Air India and has a codeshare with its parent, but it states no alliance membership. An Air India release title says Maharaja Club members can now earn and redeem points on Air India Express flights. The fleet is more than 100 Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s.

Gulf routes, the 2026 disruption and connections

The airports page lists 62 destinations, 16 of them international, with more than 3,000 flights a week. In West Asia it names Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh, Salalah and Sharjah, and Singapore appears in the route links. Indian airports on the page include Amritsar, Kannur, Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirappalli, Varanasi and Vijayawada as well as the metros.

The 2026 airspace closures hit this network hard. On 17 April 2026 scheduled flights ran only to Muscat, Jeddah and Riyadh, four UAE airports had ad-hoc flights, and seven points had none (see the table). Later restoration dates were not confirmed for this page, so search your exact route and date before treating it as normal.

Air India Express flies point to point. If a visa itinerary continues beyond the Gulf, keep the whole journey on one booking: a separate onward ticket from Dubai or Doha means collecting bags and entering that country, which needs its own visa.

If an Air India Express booking does not show

Try the other identifiers first. The form accepts a first name, last name, email or mobile number, so a booking made by a relative may open with their email address instead of your name. Then look for a mistyped character in the six-character reference.

A Fare Lock can be cancelled early by the airline, and an unpaid reservation without a lock is released whenever Air India Express decides. A flight reservation from the desk is an unpaid hold of the same kind, which is why it is issued close to the day you submit.

Air India Express Gulf flights on 17 April 2026

Air India Express questions, answered