AirAsia India hikes borrowing limit by ?1,000 cr to maintain its fleet

Bengaluru: With hopes of getting a bailout package for the airline industry diminishing, AirAsia India has increased its borrowing limit by ?1,000 crore to ensure it continues to pay leasing and parking charges for its grounded aircraft.

AirAsia India is learnt to be the first domestic airline to formally increase the borrowing limit. The decision to increase the limit from ?500 crore to ?1,500 crore was taken at a recent meeting of the shareholders. AirAsia India is a joint venture between Tata Sons, which owns 51 per cent in the airline, and AirAsia Berhad. The special resolution was approved to carry out “existing and future financial requirements to support its business operations”, according to to data intelligence platform paper.vc.

Following the lockdown, all domestic and international flights have been cancelled. According to CAPA, an aviation consultancy firm, domestic airlines are set to incur losses worth $1.75 billion in the first quarter of the current financial year.

According to various reports, some lessors are in contact with domestic airlines to terminate the contracts and take back the leased aircraft following missed payments. AirAsia has 30 aircraft on lease, with 70 more on order.

According to the Q4 results (Oct-Dec, 2019), the airline’s maintenance and overhaul charges were ?174.35 crore.,

Leasing charges for the same period during 2018 ?116.4 crore in Q4 of the previous year.. No details have been given with regard to leasing charges for Q4 of 2019.

AirAsia India recorded fourth quarter net loss of ?123.3 crore in FY19, which was 26 per cent lesser than the same quarter in the previous year. It recorded revenues of ?1,057.6 crore, a 65 per cent increase from Q4 of FY18 on the back of a 38 per cent increase in capacity and a 19 per cent increase in average fare. Staff costs increased by 77 per cent due to additional operational staff for an increased number of aircraft and also forward hiring to cater to the additional aircraft to be inducted in the first half of 2020.

The 4Q19 share of results of AirAsia Berhad includes Rs 233.2 crore recognized for AirAsia India losses on injection of investment into AirAsia India.
27/04/20 K Giriprakash/Business Line

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Air India SATS becomes a full member of air pharma network Pharma.Aero

Pharma.Aero announced two new full Members to its air pharma network: Etihad Cargo and Air India SATS.

Air India SATS, a joint venture between Air India Limited and SATS Limited, was formed to provide airport services in ground and cargo handling solutions to its customer airlines.

“We are delighted to be a part of the Pharma.Aero ecosystem. To be included in their network is a key milestone for AISATS as we pursue industry collaboration to aid our long-term goal of building a pharma corridor in India. As an industry leader in air cargo, we are committed to driving strategic growth, to overcome new challenges, and to support our industry to achieve excellence in reliable end-to-end air transportation for pharma shippers”, said Ravinder Bolangdy, head cargo, AISATS.

Etihad Cargo, the cargo and logistics arm of Etihad Airways, positions itself as the first Middle East airline to hold both of IATA’s CEIV Fresh and CEIV Pharma certifications, and one of the two carriers globally to claim this dual honour.

Andre Blech, head of cargo operations and delivery, Etihad Aviation Group, said, "Our membership with Pharma.Aero is a testament to the progress Etihad Cargo has made over the past 18 months as we continue to drive forward our ambition to provide reliable end-to-end air transportation for perishable and pharmaceutical shippers.”
25/04/20 ITLN

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AirAsia trims staff salaries by up to 20 per cent for April amid lockdown

Mumbai: AirAsia India has cut the April salary of its staff by up to 20 per cent to tackle the airline's finances amid the suspension of all commercial services till May 3 due to the lockdown, a source has said.

Those drawing Rs 50,000 per month or less have been spared from the wage cut. The Bengaluru-headquartered budget carrier is the latest to join the other domestic airlines such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and Vistara, who have already taken similar measures to cut fixed cost amid grounding of their fleet.

"AirAsia India has cut the April salary of its employees by up to 20 per cent. The senior management will take a pay cut of 20 per cent while the wages of the executives falling in others categories have been reduced by 17 per cent, 13 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively," the source who is privy to the development said.
20/04/20 New Indian Express

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AirAsia announces resumption of domestic flights

Kuala Lumpur:  Low-cost carrier AirAsia is set to resume its scheduled domestic flights on April 29.

It said this would be followed by resumption of domestic flights in Thailand and the Philippines on May 1; India (May 4) and Indonesia (May 7), subject to approval from the authorities.

The resumption of services will initially be for selected key domestic routes, which will increase gradually to include international destinations around the network, once the situation improves and governments lift borders and travel restrictions.

President (Airlines) of AirAsia Group, Bo Lingam said they were very pleased to be able to fly again and to serve their guests starting with domestic routes, and were hopeful of resuming full operations as soon as possible.

“We have undertaken a thorough review of our guest handling procedures both on ground and onboard in light of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said in a statement, here, today.

He added that AirAsia has been working closely with the airport authorities to ensure that all the relevant precautionary measures were in place to ensure a safe, pleasant and comfortable journey for everyone.
17/04/20 New Straits Times

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Funny banter between IndiGo, Vistara, AirAsia send Twitterati into a tizzy

Battling lockdown: Kudos to airlines for their funny banter, which brought smiles all around! After not being able to fly during the nationwide lockdown, Airline companies entertain Twitteratis with an interesting word play on Twitter. It started with IndiGo’s tweet and the chain led companies like Cafe Coffee Day, Penguin as well as Airport authorities to join in and entertain followers for the day. In a witty tweet, IndiGo said, “Hey, @airvistara , not #flyinghigher these days we heard? #StayingParkedStayingSafe #LetsIndiGo”. This tweet sparked a series of threads on social media with Vistara responding and further inviting GoAir to join the fun.
Vistara’s tweet read, ““These days being on-ground is a wonderful thing. Flying would not be a ‘smart’ choice, what say GoAirlines?” To this, GoAir responded with a comeback and also tagged Air Asia India. GoAir tweeted that they can hardly wait till people take to the skies and then went on to tag Air Asia India.
Next to join the quirky wordplay, AirAsia India replied to GoAir that staying at home is the ‘Red.Hot.Spicy’ thing to be do and then tagged SpiceJet! This further brought SpiceJet into the game too. After this, Delhi Airport, Mumbai Airport, Bangalore Airport and Hyderabad Airport joined the wordplay in no time and highlighted how the companies have been practising social distancing even in hangers.

While the companies and airport authorities were participating in the Twitter thread, the day became interesting for many Twitter users. One of the Twitteratis said that it was “wonderful reading planes talking to each other.” Meanwhile, another user said that this has been the best conversation on Twitter in the last few days. While some thanked the airlines for making them smile, others appreciated the spirits of air carries in such unprecedented times.

Airlines have suspended their domestic and international flights due to the lockdown in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak. The lockdown which was imposed till April 14, has now been extended for 15 more days that is till April 30.
12/04/20 Financial Express

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AirAsia India announces free rescheduling, direct booking discounts on all flights till 31 May

AirAsia India has announced a waiver of all rescheduling fees on current and future bookings for travel until 31 May, 2020.
The waiver, announced in the campaign “From A to B, we’ve got your back”, encompasses all flights “from A to B on the AirAsia India domestic network” across points-of-sale, encouraging guests to book even if they are concerned that their Plan A may change to Plan B.

In view of the ongoing uncertainty, AirAsia India has extended this offer across channels.

In addition, AirAsia India is offering a limited period special discount of up to 10 percent on bookings made 14 days in advance on www.airasia.com and the AirAsia India mobile app using the Promo Code FLYNOW10.

Guests can manage their bookings and reschedule by logging in or signing up as a BIG Member on www.airasia.com with the email ID used when making their original booking, linking their existing PNR to their BIG member ID and editing their booking.
06/04/20 First Post

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AirAsia India announces free rescheduling & direct booking discounts on all flights till May 31

Kolkata: To help quell guests'worries around making travel plans, AirAsia India has announced a waiver of all rescheduling fees on current and future bookings for travel until May 31.
The waiver announced in the campaign “From A to B, we’ve got your back”, encompasses all flights “from A to B on the AirAsia India domestic network” across points-of-sale, encouraging guests to book even if they are concerned that their Plan A may change to Plan B.
In view of the ongoing uncertainty, AirAsia India has extended this offer across channels.
In addition, AirAsia India is offering a limited period special discount of up to 10 pc on bookings made 14 days in advance on www.airasia.com and the AirAsia India mobile app using the Promo Code FLYNOW10, an AirAsia spokesperson here on Monday said.
06/04/20 UNI

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Passengers can make bookings from April 15 onwards: AirAsia

New Delhi: Budget passenger carrier AirAsia India on Saturday said that passengers can continue to make their bookings for flights that wil be operated from April 15 onwards.

"If at all there is any change based on the direction provided by the regulator, we will abide to the policies and notify guests accordingly," a spokesperson of the airline said.

At present, no foreign or domestic passenger flight operations are allowed till April 14.
On Thursday, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said that domestic airlines are free to accept ticket bookings for flights that will be operated post the current lockdown deadline.

According to the senior official, the current lockdown period is till the midnight of April 14 and if this is not extended then these bookings will be honoured.
05/04/20 daijiworld

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AirAsia India says flight bookings to resume from April 15

Budget carrier AirAsia India on Saturday said bookings for its flights are open from April 15, but it it is open to any change in case aviation regulator DGCA issues fresh directives on the issue.

Domestic and international commercial flights in the country are suspended till April 14 amid the lockdown to curb spreading of coronavirus infections. Most of the airlines have commenced taking bookings for their flights from April 15 onwards.

However, on Friday state-owned Air India said it has stopped bookings till April 30 and is awaiting a decision after April 14, when the nationwide lockdown is scheduled to end.

"Passengers can continue to make their bookings with us from April 15 onwards," an AirAsia India spokesperson said on Saturday in response to a PTI query.

In case there is any change based on the direction provided by the regulator, he said, "We will abide to the policies and notify guests accordingly."

On Thursday, civil aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said airlines are free to take ticket bookings for any date after April 14. The 21-day nationwide lockdown began on March 25.
04/04/20 PTI/CNBC TV18

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Co-passengers of Tablighis from Telengana to be traced

Hyderabad: Among the 1,030 Tablighi Jamaat attendees from Telangana, 10 had returned to the city by flight. Police, health and municipal officials have begun to locate their co-passengers in these flights. Also, thousands of train passengers are being contacted as over 1,000 attendees travelled by trains.

After the death of a 74-year-old Jamaat returnee, who tested positive for Covid-19 posthumously, the state government has conducted a thorough check of local people who attended the event. State government through Inteligence Bureau (IB) and local police inputs has identified 1,030 people who returned from Delhi, out of which 630 are from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits.
“Most of them returned from Delhi by trains. Railway officials shared the data of passengers who travelled in the same compartments of Jamaat attendees. We have found out that 10 people had returned to Hyderabad by Air Asia, Vistara, Indigo and Spice Jet flights,” a senior government official said.
02/04/20 Mahesh Buddi/Times of India

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