FIPB to take up AirAsia application on March 6

Posted date: February 25, 2013 In: Business

NEW DELHI (Bernama) – The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) will take up AirAsia’s application to enter the Indian aviation sector on March 6, the Hindu newspaper reported.

The AirAsia venture to form AirAsia India is through a joint venture with the Tata Group and Arun Bhatia’s, Telestra Tradeplace.

The proposal from the Malaysian budget carrier is the first after the Indian government opened the aviation sector to foreign investment in September 2012.

AirAsia had applied to the FIPB to take a 49 per cent stake in the joint venture.

AirAsia’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes on Thursday said the new airline was looking to start flying from this year-end with 3-4 planes and an initial investment of about $50 million.

The proposed joint venture would operate from Chennai and would focus on providing domestic connectivity to Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

As per current rules, a carrier must complete five years of domestic operations before becoming eligible for starting overseas flights, said the report.

AirAsia, through its operations based in Thailand and Malaysia, flies to Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi, Tiruchirappalli and Kolkata.