Air India Express and AirAsia India have moved to a unified reservation system, whereby passengers can make bookings for both airlines through an integrated website. The move is part of the ongoing process of merging AirAsia India with Air India Express. The combined entity will focus on leisure-oriented and price-sensitive markets.
Tatas-owned Air India plans to acquire no-frills carrier AirAsia India and has sought approval from the Competition Commission for the proposed deal. AirAsia India is majority-owned by Tata Sons Private Ltd with a shareholding of 83.67 per cent and the remaining stake is with AirAsia Investment Ltd (AAIL), which is part of Malaysia's AirAsia Group. Full service carrier Air India and its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express were acquired by Talace Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Private Ltd, last year. Besides, Tatas operate full service airline Vistara in a joint venture with Singapore Airlines.
Sunil Bhaskaran, AirAsia India's chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD), is the front-runner to head the low-cost carrier that will take birth after the merger of Air India Express and AirAsia India, sources said. In a show of confidence, the airline's board extended Bhaskaran's tenure by three years -- until March 2025 -- in a meeting held earlier this year, according to the documents reviewed by Business Standard. Moreover, AirAsia India's board of directors has increased Bhaskaran's salary twice in 2022 -- first in January by 5 per cent and then in June by 7 per cent, the documents showed.
Tata group-owned AirAsia India's inability to get approval for international flights is hurting UDAN, the Indian government's regional air connectivity project that also aims to link cities in Northeast India and Odisha to places abroad. Sources said the civil aviation ministry is waiting for the low-cost airline to come under the full ownership of Tata Sons and become part of Air India, the former state-owned carrier now owned by the private conglomerate, before allowing it to operate international flights. Tata owns 84 per cent stake in AirAsia India and it is understood that the group will complete the process of buying rest of the stake by July's end.
Tata Sons is all set to acquire a residual stake of 16.33 per cent in AirAsia India from its joint venture (JV) partner AirAsia Berhad for $19 million (or Rs 142 crore) by early next year. The valuation is in accordance with the previous transaction under which AirAsia Berhad had sold its 32.6 per cent stake, said a banking source. Tata Group had increased its stake in AirAsia India at a valuation of $115 million.
Tata Group-owned AirAsia India, which is in the process of being merged with Air India Express, has taken short-term loans worth Rs 630 crore during the last six months to deal with cash crunch. AirAsia India has been making losses since its first commercial flight on June 12, 2014. Its net loss increased by 42 per cent to Rs 2,178 crore in FY22.
In India, many players are in the throes of chaos and pain but at least one partnership -- Air Asia India -- that was fraying even before the pandemic now finds itself at breaking point, says Anjuli Bhargava.
With its nominees on the board, Tata Sons will have the controlling stake of 51%.
AirAsia India began operations in June 2014.
The current offer is available for these proposed flights as well, the release said.
AirAsia India, which started operations on June 12 2014, had a market share of 6.2 per cent of the domestic traffic in April.
AirAsia India, whose top officials have promised to offer low and competitive airfares, would have Chennai as its hub and would focus on connecting Tier-II cities to begin with.
AirAsia India launched service in June and has two Airbus A320 planes.
Most airlines have fattened their profits, turned the corner, or cut their losses, except AirAsia India.
AirAsia India was set up as a three-way joint venture.
Ticket sales to open from Friday, says group CEO Tony Fernandes
Unlikely to happen in less than a year,despite the advantage of the parent airline's base.
AirAsia India on Monday moved closer to getting off the ground by appointing S Ramadorai as its Chairman, ending months-long suspense and having in place the entire top management team.
Inching closer to launch its operations, new no-frill carrier AirAsia India on Saturday took delivery of its first Airbus A-320 as it landed in Chennai after flying in from Toulouse headquarters of the European aircraft manufacturer.
DGCA asks those likely to be affected by a scheduled air operator's permit to the airline to give suggestions, objections within 30 days.
AirAsia may breakeven by June this year.
Tony Fernandes had blamed Indian domestic carriers for preventing AirAsia's India launch earlier, too, but this was the first time he named an airline.
In a December 2012 interview, Ratan Tata, then preparing to step down as chairman of Tata Sons, expressed doubts about the Tata group re-entering the aviation sector, calling it a space plagued by "destructive competition". But beneath that frustration lay nearly two decades of failed attempts to conquer the Indian skies. In 1994, Tata, along with Singapore Airlines, had plans to launch a joint venture (JV) airline in India.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw posted the matter for hearing on Friday.
The newly formed AirAsia India, the Indian arm of Malaysia's low cost carrier AirAsia, has filed an application with the Civil Aviation Ministry seeking permission to launch its operations, official sources said on Thursday.
The Tatas have collectively increased their aggregate airlines seat capacity across domestic and international markets by an impressive 20 per cent, going from 64.03 million in calendar year (CY) 2023 to 76.72 million in the current CY, according to data shared by the group that controls Air India in which Vistara has been merged recently. The Tatas also run Air India Express in which Air Asia India has been merged.
No-frills carrier AirAsia India on Monday offered rock-bottom fares, starting at as low as Rs 1,299 for domestic flights, as part of the parent AirAsia's global sale offer for a limited period.
The losses are primarily because the venture operated only for 18 days in June, with only two flights.
The airline opened bookings on Friday night for its inaugural routes -- Bengaluru-Goa and Bengaluru-Chennai.
The trails of mega-mergers, tailwinds of expanding fleets, flights and airports will dot the fast-growing Indian aviation firmament in 2025, though the dark clouds of supply chain woes will persist longer. Also, new airline takeoffs, the future trajectory of revised norms to tackle pilot fatigue and efforts to reduce carbon emissions will be on the radar.
AirAsia India, whose top officials have promised to offer low and competitive airfares, will focus on connecting tier-II cities to begin with.
Tata Group-owned Air India shaved off its losses by 60 per cent to Rs 4,444.10 crore in FY24 over the previous year, according to the Tata Sons annual report for 2023-24. The airline had reported a loss of Rs 11,387.96 crore in FY23, the annual report said.
Malaysian budget airline AirAsia moved a step closer to securing permission to launch operations in India, with Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Monday saying that all issues concerning the carrier's application have been resolved.
The possible change in the airline's earlier decision is apparently due to various factors, the key being its relationship with the state government. Other states are a lot more interested and excited in having it.
CEO Mittu Chandilya said AirAsia will retain the Rs 990 fare even when the company goes for expansion of new routes.
The carrier planned to bring in a plane a month from March to build a fleet of at least 10 jets by the end of the year.
The company has charted out a three step process in achieving the target
AirAsia has grand plansfor India.
Air India will soon have a new crew management system that will help strengthen rostering rules and enable faster recovery from scheduled disruptions. In a message to the staff on Friday, Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said that in the next two weeks, there will be the CAE Crew Management System that will "strengthen our systems' adherence to rostering rules, improving the tracking of training & qualifications, and enabling faster recovery from schedule disruptions". The new system also comes against the backdrop of concerns flagged by pilots' unions about rostering issues.
The aviation regulator slapped fines amounting to Rs 2.75 crore on Indian airlines in 2023, marking a 39 per cent rise in financial penalties from Rs 1.97 crore in 2022. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it imposed fines on domestic carriers such as Air India, IndiGo, AirAsia India and SpiceJet for issues related to non-compliance in 2023. The regulator also carried out a record number of 5,745 surveillance activities in the year to ensure compliance by airlines, aerodrome operators, and aviation personnel among others.
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