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.
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.
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 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.
With its nominees on the board, Tata Sons will have the controlling stake of 51%.
AirAsia India began operations in June 2014.
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.
The current offer is available for these proposed flights as well, the release said.
AirAsia India launched service in June and has two Airbus A320 planes.
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.
The airline opened bookings on Friday night for its inaugural routes -- Bengaluru-Goa and Bengaluru-Chennai.
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.
Ticket sales to open from Friday, says group CEO Tony Fernandes
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.
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.
Unlikely to happen in less than a year,despite the advantage of the parent airline's base.
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 India was set up as a three-way joint venture.
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.
Ending its uncomfortable journey in India after eight years, Malaysia-based AirAsia Group on Wednesday said it has exited AirAsia India by selling its remaining 16.67 per cent stake to Tata Group-owned Air India for Rs 155.64 crore. Later in the day, Air India said it has begun the process of creating a single low-cost carrier subsidiary by merging AirAsia India and Air India Express. A working group consisting AirAsia India CEO Sunil Bhaskaran and Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh has been formed for the two carriers' integration, which is expected to take approximately 12 months, it added.
Most airlines have fattened their profits, turned the corner, or cut their losses, except AirAsia India.
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.
In a statement, the airline said it has completed precautionary re-inspections of the Fuel Control Switch (FCS) across all operational Boeing 787 aircraft in its fleet.
AirAsia India, which started operations on June 12 2014, had a market share of 6.2 per cent of the domestic traffic in April.
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.
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.
The losses are primarily because the venture operated only for 18 days in June, with only two flights.
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.
AirAsia may breakeven by June this year.
The bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Pradeep Nandrajog issued notices to the Centre, Foreign Investment Promotion Board and Commerce and Civil Aviation ministries and sought their responses by October 30.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw posted the matter for hearing on Friday.
The initial public offering (IPO) market in India last year was hot, with companies raising over $22 billion in 2025. But half of the 350-plus companies that listed on the stock exchange last year traded below their offer price, according to a new research report released by HSBC Global Investment Research - a sobering fact despite what otherwise looked like a rush of companies eager to list on the bourses.
CEO Mittu Chandilya said AirAsia will retain the Rs 990 fare even when the company goes for expansion of new routes.
An Air India Airbus A350 sustained engine damage after ingesting a baggage container while taxiing at Delhi airport. The incident occurred after the flight returned to Delhi due to the unexpected closure of Iranian airspace. The DGCA is investigating.
Passport Ready? 4 Cheapest Destinations From Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai & Mumbai
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.
Tata Sons will increase its stake in budget carrier AirAsia India (AAI) to 83.67 per cent by acquiring an additional 32.67 per cent for $37.66 million from AirAsia Investment Ltd (AAIL), according to a regulatory filing. Currently, AAIL, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia-based AirAsia, holds 49 per cent stake in the Bengaluru-based AirAsia India. In a regulatory filing to stock exchange Bursa Malaysia, AirAsia said, "The board of directors of AirAsia wishes to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary AAIL and Tata Sons Pvt Ltd, India, on December 29, entered into a share purchase agreement."
This is the third enforcement action against a Tata Group airline in over a month.
The company has charted out a three step process in achieving the target
India's duopoly in the domestic skies -- where IndiGo and Air India collectively control over 90 per cent of the market -- is highly skewed, leaving very little room for new players
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