Tata Group and Malaysia’s AirAsia, lead partners in a proposed domestic low-cost airline, on Saturday said there were no differences among the shareholders over the former’s tie-up with Singapore Airlines (SIA) for lanching a full service carrier.
The board of AirAsia India, as the Tata-AirAsia venture is called, met in Mumbai on Saturday, a week after co-investor Arun Bhatia hit out at Tata Group for keeping him in dark regarding its SIA joint venture. Tata Sons owns a 30 per cent stake in Air Asia India, while AirAsia and Bhatia’s Telestra Tradeplace have 49 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively. A Tata Group spokesperson as well as Mittu Chandilya, Air Asia India’s chief executive, however, maintained that the issue of Bhatia's opposition to Tata-SIA partnership and his purported threat to buy Tata Sons’ stake in the carrier did not come up for talks in the meeting.
“It was a regular board meeting and we discussed operational plans. We have received a no-objection certificate from the ministry (of civil aviation). I am still aiming for a December launch, but it will be tight,” Chandilya said. He added the airline would not cut corners on safety issues and be prepared to delay launch. 28/09/13 Business Standard
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The board of AirAsia India, as the Tata-AirAsia venture is called, met in Mumbai on Saturday, a week after co-investor Arun Bhatia hit out at Tata Group for keeping him in dark regarding its SIA joint venture. Tata Sons owns a 30 per cent stake in Air Asia India, while AirAsia and Bhatia’s Telestra Tradeplace have 49 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively. A Tata Group spokesperson as well as Mittu Chandilya, Air Asia India’s chief executive, however, maintained that the issue of Bhatia's opposition to Tata-SIA partnership and his purported threat to buy Tata Sons’ stake in the carrier did not come up for talks in the meeting.
“It was a regular board meeting and we discussed operational plans. We have received a no-objection certificate from the ministry (of civil aviation). I am still aiming for a December launch, but it will be tight,” Chandilya said. He added the airline would not cut corners on safety issues and be prepared to delay launch. 28/09/13 Business Standard
