AirAsia India


AirAsia India is an airline in India headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka.The airline is a joint venture with Tata Sons holding 51% stake in the airline and AirAsia Investment Limited holding 49% stake. AirAsia India commenced operations on 12 June 2014 with Bangalore as its primary hub.
AirAsia is the first foreign airline to set up a subsidiary in India and the company marked Tata Group's return to the aviation industry after 60 years, having ceded Air India in 1946. As of December 2019, AirAsia India was the 5th largest carrier in India, after IndiGo, SpiceJet, Air India and GoAir, with a market share of 7.0%

History

In Feb. 2013, with the Indian government allowing a foreign direct investment of up to 49% in airlines, AirAsia Berhad applied to the Indian Foreign Investment Promotion Board seeking approval for commencing its operations in India. In March 2013, AirAsia announced that it would establish a joint venture with Tata Sons and Telestra Tradeplace with Tata Sons representing the airline with two non-executive directors in the board.
The airliner planned to operate with the world's lowest unit cost of per available seat kilometre and a passenger break-even load factor of 52%. It also planned to hedge 100% of its fuel requirements for the first three years and to achieve an aircraft turnaround time of 25 minutes.
AirAsia planned to begin operations to various tier 2 and tier 3 cities with Chennai International Airport as its main operating base. According to KPMG, the introduction of AirAsia was expected to cause another price war, ultimately leading to an increase in air traffic and some consolidation in the Indian aviation sector. AirAsia initially invested an amount of 50 million and in preparation for its operations in India, it struck deals with online and offline travel agents. On 3 March 2013, the FIPB officially permitted AirAsia to rent or lease aircraft and to carry cargo on its scheduled flights. The airline then applied for permission to schedule aircraft and transport passengers, which the FIPB accepted on 6 March.
AirAsia India was established on 28 March 2013 and became the first foreign airline to set up a subsidiary in India. In April, the airline started recruiting candidates for pilots and cabin crew. As the final procedure to obtain Air Operator Permit, a proving flight was conducted on 1 and 2 May 2014 flying from Chennai to Kochi, Bangalore and Kolkata. On 7 May 2014, the DGCA issued an Air Operator Permit to the company. On 30 May 2014, the airline announced the shifting of its base to Bangalore and its first flight from there to Goa. AirAsia operated its maiden flight on 12 June 2014. In June 2015, the airline made Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi its secondary hub for North Indian operations. In August 2015, Tata Sons increased its stake to 40.06% from 30% earlier by injecting fresh equity while Telestra's share was reduced to 10% from 20%. As of July 2019, AirAsia India is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in India, behind IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir, with a market share of 6.5%.
In January 2018, managing director and chief executive Amar announced plans of the company to expect a fleet of 21 aircraft by the yearend, which will make it eligible to operate overseas flights.
In July 2020, AirAsia India launched an aviation analytics app that would help enhance the operational efficiency of the airline by monitoring and helping manage aircraft turnaround between flights with data analytics in real time. Mr. Sunil Bhaskaran, MD & CEO, AirAsia India and Mr. Shankar Narayanan, President and Global Head Retail, CPG, Travel and Hospitality, Tata Consultancy Services were among the many who were present at the digital launch.

Corporate affairs

AirAsia India is headquartered in Bangalore, India. Prior to the airline's formation, Tony Fernandes, founder of AirAsia group, announced that he would like Ratan Tata to be the chairman of the airline; however the latter refused, though he later consented to being the chief advisor to the AirAsia India management board. On 15 May 2013, AirAsia India appointed management consultant Mittu Chandilya as CEO. A month later, on 17 June, S. Ramadorai, the non-executive vice-chairman of Tata Consultancy Services, was appointed as the chairman of the airline. In April 2016, Amar Abrol replaced Mittu Chandilya as the CEO of the airline. In June 2019, Amar Abrol reportedly quit and in October 2018, AirAsia India announced that Sunil Bhaskaran had been appointed Managing Director and CEO of the airline.
Indian business newspaper Business Standard reported on July 9th, 2020, that Tata Sons were in advanced talks to buy out AirAsia Group Bhd's 49% stake in the joint venture.

Destinations

AirAsia India operates over 100 daily flights connecting 21 destinations across India.
StateCityAirportNotesRefs
Andhra PradeshVisakhapatnamVisakhapatnam Airport
AssamGuwahatiLokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport
ChandigarhChandigarhChandigarh Airport
DelhiDelhiIndira Gandhi International Airport
GoaDabolimDabolim Airport
GujaratAhmedabadSardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport
SuratSurat Airport--
Jammu and KashmirSrinagarSheikh ul-Alam International Airport
JharkhandRanchiBirsa Munda Airport
KarnatakaBangaloreKempegowda International Airport
KeralaKochiCochin International Airport
Madhya PradeshIndoreDevi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport
MaharashtraMumbaiChhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport
MaharashtraNagpurDr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport
MaharashtraPunePune Airport
ManipurImphalImphal Airport
OdishaBhubaneswarBiju Patnaik Airport
PunjabAmritsarSri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport
RajasthanJaipurJaipur International Airport
Tamil NaduChennaiChennai International Airport
TelanganaHyderabadRajiv Gandhi International Airport
TripuraAgartalaMaharaja Bir Bikram Airport
West BengalKolkataNetaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport
West BengalSiliguriBagdogra Airport

Fleet

, AirAsia India operates the following aircraft: