AirAsia India

AirAsia India is an Indian low-cost airline headquartered in Bangalore (Bengaluru), Karnataka. The airline was a joint venture between Tata Sons and AirAsia Bhd. Tata Sons currently holds 100% stake in the airline, after AirAsia Bhd sold its remaining 16.33℅ stake to Air India. It commenced operations in June 2014 with Bangalore as its primary hub.

AirAsia India
IATA ICAO Callsign
AK[1] AXM[1] RED CAP[2]
Founded28 March 2013 (2013-03-28)
Commenced operations12 June 2014 (2014-06-12)
Operating bases
Frequent-flyer programTata NeuPass
Fleet size33
Destinations18
Parent companyAir India Limited
HeadquartersKempegowda International Airport[3]
Bangalore, Karnataka, India[4]
Key people
  • Campbell Wilson (Chairman)
  • Sunil Bhaskaran (CEO)
Websiteairasia.co.in

History
AirAsia India Airbus A320 named 'The Pioneer', the aircraft is painted with an image of J. R. D. Tata

In February 2013, with the Government of India allowing a foreign direct investment of up to 49% in airlines, AirAsia Berhad applied to the Indian Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) seeking approval for commencing its operations in India.[5][6] 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.[7][8][9]

The airliner planned to operate with the world's lowest unit cost of ₹1.25 (1.6¢ US) 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.[10]

AirAsia planned to begin operations to various tier 2 and tier 3 cities with Chennai International Airport as its main operating base.[11] 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.[12] AirAsia initially invested an amount of US$50 million and in preparation for its operations in India, it struck deals with online and offline travel agents.[13][14] 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,[15] which the FIPB accepted on 6 March.[16]

AirAsia India was established on 28 March 2013 and became the first foreign airline to set up a subsidiary in India.[17][18] In April, the airline started recruiting candidates for pilots and cabin crew.[19] 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.[20] On 7 May 2014, the DGCA issued an Air Operator Permit to the company.[21] On 30 May 2014, the airline announced the shifting of its base to Bangalore and its first flight from there to Goa.[22] AirAsia operated its maiden flight on 12 June 2014.[23][24] In June 2015, the airline made Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi its secondary hub for North Indian operations.[25] 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%.[26][27] As of July 2019, AirAsia India was the fifth largest low-cost carrier in India, behind IndiGo, SpiceJet, Star Air (India), and GoAir, with a market share of 7.1%.[28]

In January 2018, then managing director and chief executive Amar Abrol announced plans of the company to expect a fleet of 21 aircraft by the year end, which would make it eligible to operate overseas flights.[29] 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.[30]

On 29 December 2020, AirAsia Berhad announced that it would sell a 32.67% stake in AirAsia India to Tata Sons for $37.7 million, including a provision to sell the remaining 16.33% stake for $18.8 million.[31][32] Tata Sons acquired Air India Limited on 8 October 2021.[33][34] The Tata Group requested approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to merge AirAsia India with Air India Limited in April 2022,[35] which was granted on 14 June 2022.[36] On 2 November 2022, AirAsia Berhad sold the remaining 16.33% stake to Tata Sons. However, the AirAsia brand can still be used for twelve months.[37]

AirAsia India added the gender-neutral honorific Mx as a third option for passengers booking tickets from June 2022.[38]

Corporate affairs

AirAsia India is headquartered in the Alpha 3 Building on the property of Kempegowda International Airport, in Devanahalli,[3] Bangalore, India.[39] 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.[40][41] On 15 May 2013, AirAsia India appointed management consultant Mittu Chandilya as CEO.[42] 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.[43] In April 2016, Amar Abrol replaced Mittu Chandilya as the CEO of the airline.[44] In June 2018, Amar Abrol reportedly quit and in October 2018, AirAsia India announced that Sunil Bhaskaran had been appointed managing director and CEO of the airline.[45]

Former chairman of the Tata Group Cyrus Mistry alleged that there were corporate governance lapses between the two joint venture partners. [46]

Destinations

AirAsia India operates over 200 daily flights connecting 18 destinations across India.[47]

State City Airport Notes Refs
Andhra PradeshVisakhapatnamVisakhapatnam Airport[48]
AssamGuwahatiLokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport[49]
ChandigarhChandigarhChandigarh AirportTerminated[50]
DelhiDelhiIndira Gandhi International AirportHub[49]
GoaDabolimDabolim AirportHub[24][51]
GujaratAhmedabadSardar Vallabhbhai Patel International AirportTerminated[52]
GujaratSuratSurat AirportTerminated
Jammu and KashmirSrinagarSheikh ul-Alam International Airport
JharkhandRanchiBirsa Munda Airport[53]
KarnatakaBangaloreKempegowda International AirportHub[24][51]
KeralaKochiCochin International Airport[54]
Madhya PradeshIndoreDevi Ahilya Bai Holkar AirportTerminated[55]
MaharashtraMumbaiChhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International AirportHub[49][56]
NagpurDr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International AirportTerminated[57]
PunePune Airport[58]
ManipurImphalImphal Airport[59]
OdishaBhubaneswarBiju Patnaik Airport
PunjabAmritsarSri Guru Ram Dass Jee International AirportTerminated[60]
RajasthanJaipurJaipur International Airport[50]
Tamil NaduChennaiChennai International Airport
TelanganaHyderabadRajiv Gandhi International Airport
Uttar Pradesh Lucknow Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport[61]
West BengalKolkataNetaji Subhas Chandra Bose International AirportHub[51]
SiliguriBagdogra Airport[53]

Fleet

As of November 2021, AirAsia India operates the following aircraft:[62]

AirAsia India fleet
Aircraft In
service		 Orders Passengers Notes
Airbus A320-200 23 — 180 One Aircraft in Kabali Special Livery
One Aircraft in The Pioneer Special Livery
Airbus A320neo 5 186
Total 28 0

References
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  2. "JO 7340.2G Contractions" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. 5 January 2017. p. 3-1-10. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 June 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  3. "AirAsia_India_Statement.pdf" (PDF). AirAsia India. 31 October 2016. Registered and Corporate Office Ground Floor, Alpha 3 Kempegowda International Airport Devanahalli, Bengaluru – 560300 Karnataka, India
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