Tata Sons, AirAsia, Telestra seek to ink Indian airline JV - Cyrus Mistry hand seen
overseas flights.
AirAsia, through its operations based in Thailand and Malaysia, flies to Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi, Tiruchirappalli and Kolkata in addition to 20 countries across Asia.
AirAsia, Tatas and Hindustan Aviation of Bhatias have signed a partnership agreement for the venture.
"We have carefully evaluated developments in India over the past few years and strongly believe that the current environment is perfect to introduce AirAsia's low fares which stimulate travel and grow the market," AirAsia founder and Group Chief Executive Tony Fernandes said in the statement.
It was in September last year that the government decided to open up the aviation sector to Foreign Direct Investment from foreign carriers.
Air Asia has made the move to invest even as Etihad and Jet Airways continue to work towards finalising a deal for the Gulf carrier to invest in Jet.
For the USD 100 billion Tata Group, this would be its second foray into the aviation segment after the late JRD Tata launched Air India before the Independence.
Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Group, once pioneers in civil aviation, had indicated in an interview to PTI days before he retired as chairman last year that the conglomerate was unlikely to enter into the sector because of "destructive competition".
The Bombay House could not be contacted immediately for a reaction on the AirAsia announcement.
The Tata Group holds nearly 6 per cent equity in SpiceJet, but has maintained that it was only a financial investor in the budget carrier.
Telestra Tradeplace is an investment holding company of Arun Bhatia and one
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