AirAsia India Eyes June 12 For Inaugural Flight

Friday, 30th May 2014 at 07:08am

June 12 will be a very important day for AirAsia Bhd as it is about to witness another subsidiary taking off to the sky in its bid to expand its empire covering the Asian region.

After a series of delays in more than a year since it was formed, AirAsia India will finally see the light of day when it launches its twin inaugural flights from Bangalore to Goa and Chennai.

AirAsia is known for its lowest base fare promos in the region. Its Indian subsidiary is no exception. During its inaugural operation, AirAsia India launched a ticket promo on May 31 of Rs5 for a base fare for the twin inaugural routes.

The airline just obtained its license to fly from the regulatory board on May 8, allowing it to commence operations anytime from the day of approval.

The entry of AirAsia into the Indian market was not an easy one as it was met with protest especially from existing airlines, its prospective rivals, knowing fully well about the airline's business strategy. They formed a group and together filed a class suit against the new airline alleging that it violated the country's newly-amended aviation law, which the respondent vehemently denied.

AirAsia India was formed in February 2013 through a joint venture between AirAsia Bhd. of Malaysia and Tata Group of India following the amendment of the FDI law in October 2012. The amendment was a government response to the financial crisis gripping the country's commercial aviation industry. The new law permits foreign airlines to invest up to 49% in a local airline venture as against the previous law which only allowed foreign ownership a maximum of 24%.

The launch of its inaugural service is expected to spark a heated fare war among local carriers, possibly more intense than what India has ever witnessed in recent memory.

According to its CEO, Mittu Chandilya, the airline will most likely offer the same low fare that AirAsia is known for, about 30-35% lower than its rivals. It's no exception in India when AirAsia India starts its operation on June 12.

The budget airline is planning to focus on tier II and metro cities with a ratio of 60:40. For its inaugural service, it will initially launch twin routes, Bangalore-Chennai and Bangalore-Goa.

The news of the launch of the airline's inaugural flights prompted SpiceJet to preempt a fare war by announcing on Thursday its fare promo of Rs1,499 for the same routes AirAsia India will launch on June 12.

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