An Air Asia India Airbus A320 landing in Bengaluru Airport. (Wikimedia Commons- Venkat Mangudi)
AirAsia Aviation Group Limited, the holding company of Capital A’s group of airlines, today confirmed the signing of an agreement to sell its remaining stake in AirAsia India to Air India, the country’s flag carrier owned by the Tata Group, the Indian industrial conglomerate founded by Jamsetji Tata.
The decision comes amid AirAsia’s growth in other markets, where it will now seek to strengthen its business. According to the company itself, during 2022 it has already operated a total of more than 171.000 commercial flights and carried more than twenty-three million passengers. The company, which follows a low-cost business model, is based in Malaysia, but operates subsidiaries in other Southeast Asian countries and India.
“Since 2014 when we first commenced operation in India, AirAsia has built a great business in India, which is one of the world’s biggest civil aviation markets in the world”, noted Bo Lingam, CEO of Air Asia Group. He also valued the experience of working with the Tata Group (which already held a majority stake) and said: “This is not the end of our relationship, but the beginning of a new one as we explore new and exciting opportunities to collaborate and enhance our synergies moving forward”.
“The pandemic has allowed us to re-examine our priorities, and we felt that it was best suited for AirAsia to develop a Southeast Asia-only business”, Lingam said. There, the company maintains four major brands that have a strong presence in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Lingam remarked that India will continue to be an important market for the company, which will continue to market scheduled air services through its various airlines. “We will use the experience and knowledge we have gained from operating in the Indian domestic market to grow the Southeast Asia-Indian market in logistics and passenger services to a far greater extent”.
“This article was originally published by AgustÃn Miguens on Aviacionline in syndication with AirlineGeeks
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