By any measure, it has been a difficult period for AirAsia Bhd’s venture in India — the Malaysia-based airline’s latest fo-reign foray to add to its still expanding no-frills empire.
Everything that could have killed the fledgling AirAsia India, it seems, has been thrown in front of it. From labyrinthine political processes to regulators who are reluctant to open up the Indian airspace to opposition from the public that has resulted in a court case.
AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes may have taken all of this into consideration, as he had been forewarned that establishing India’s first majority foreign-owned airline in decades would take a lot of perseverance.
However, this was before one of AirAsia India’s main partners dropped a bombshell that, if reports are true, even the other shareholders were not aware of.
Two weeks ago, one of AirAsia’s major shareholders, Tata Sons, announced that it entered into a joint venture with Singapore Airlines (SIA) to found another airline in India. This new airline is aimed at the premium market and, in theory, should not affect AirAsia’s business but it represents another obstacle to the setting up of AirAsia India.
14/10/13 Prem Kumar Panjamorthy/The Malaysian Reserve /FMT News
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Everything that could have killed the fledgling AirAsia India, it seems, has been thrown in front of it. From labyrinthine political processes to regulators who are reluctant to open up the Indian airspace to opposition from the public that has resulted in a court case.
AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes may have taken all of this into consideration, as he had been forewarned that establishing India’s first majority foreign-owned airline in decades would take a lot of perseverance.
However, this was before one of AirAsia India’s main partners dropped a bombshell that, if reports are true, even the other shareholders were not aware of.
Two weeks ago, one of AirAsia’s major shareholders, Tata Sons, announced that it entered into a joint venture with Singapore Airlines (SIA) to found another airline in India. This new airline is aimed at the premium market and, in theory, should not affect AirAsia’s business but it represents another obstacle to the setting up of AirAsia India.
14/10/13 Prem Kumar Panjamorthy/The Malaysian Reserve /FMT News
