AirAsia looks to triple India share of passenger mix

Mumbai: Malaysia-based AirAsia, one of Asia’s best-kn­own low-cost airline brands, expects to fly around two million passengers to and from India in the next three years, more than triple the six lakh Indians it currently flies.
“Mumbai is our sixth destination city in India, after Trivandrum, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi and Tiru­chirapalli. We will be add­ing Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi too this year,” said Tony Fernandes, group CEO, founder of AirAsia.
Fernandes said the airline is also interested in mounting flights to Pune, Amritsar and Coimbatore at a later stage. The airline flew over 23 million passengers in 2009 globally.
On Thursday, AirAsia inaugurated its flight to Mumbai from Kuala Lumpur signifying its foray into the western India market. The airline will operate four direct flights per week through its long haul, low-fare affiliate, AirAsia X, Fernandes said.
The firm has deployed Airbus A330 aircraft on the Mumbai-Kuala Lumpur route. As a special offer it will make available Mumbai-to-Malaysia tickets for Rs 1,193 (excluding airport tax) on Friday (May 7).
06/05/10 Rupesh Subhash Janve/mydigitalfc.com

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Categories: Foreign May 2010, Low Cost General May 2010, New May 2010