A recent move to open up India's airline industry to more foreign investment may well pay off for the country's travelers in terms of lower fares. The outcome for India's airlines, though, could be less positive.
Five months after New Delhi allowed foreign airlines to own stakes of up to 49% in domestic carriers, Malaysia's AirAsia and India's Tata Sons are teaming up—along with another domestic investor—to form a new low-cost airline in India.
The combination of one of India's most powerful conglomerates with Southeast Asia's biggest budget airline by sales should have India's domestic airlines in a spin.
The country's rising middle class offers much promise in terms of aviation traffic growth. But carriers such as Jet Airways, and IndiGo have suffered as demand has failed to keep pace with a rapid rise in capacity in recent years.
20/02/13 Gaurav Raghuvanshi/Wall Strrt Journal
