Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, on Friday met Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh in New Delhi, days after Malaysian carrier Air Asia announced it had sought the government’s nod to launch a new airline under a joint venture with Tata Group and an Indian investor.
Though there was no official word on what transpired at the meeting on Friday afternoon, it is understood that the plans for the launch of the airline came up during the discussions.
The meeting came days after the Malaysian budget carrier’s CEO Tony Fernandes said the new airline may take to the sky by this year-end with three to four Airbus A-320s and his company would make an initial investment of between $30-50 million.
Besides AirAsia Investment and Tata Sons, the other investor in the joint venture is Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace.
01/03/13 PTI/The Hindu
