The civil aviation ministry on Friday said that it will clear AirAsia India’s application for a no-objection certificate as soon as the airline submits all required data.
?They have just submitted the application,? said civil aviation minister Ajit Singh on the sidelines of the launch of the 4th India Aviation exhibition. ?The ministry is looking at it. When all the data is there, I can tell you the ministry is very active, proactive. If we get all the required data it should be cleared very soon.?
Malaysian budget-carrier AirAsia plans on starting a low-cost airline in India with its base in Chennai in partnership with Tata Sons and Telestra Tradeplace of Arun Bhatia. The foreign investment promotion board has already cleared AirAsia’s investment proposal and the company has been set up.
The company said last month that it has submitted the application and its business plan with the Ministry of Civil Aviation. However, the plan did not include the name of the chief executive officer. ?I saw in the papers that the CEO’s name was not there,? said Singh. ?So, asking that is really helping them because they will have to go through security clearance. If they reply, that will save time later on, otherwise it will pull on.?
AirAsia’s chief executive Tony Fernandes in the past had tweeted that a CEO for the Indian venture has been selected, although the name has not been revealed.
AirAsia’s investment proposal was the first to be cleared by FIPB since the government allowed foreign carriers to pick up a 49% stake in Indian airlines.
After AirAsia, Etihad Airways of Abu Dhabi also agreed to buy 24% stake in Jet Airways.
The deal was followed by an announcement from the Indian government that bilateral seat entitlements with Abu Dhabi has been expanded. On Friday, the minister said that other countries have also shown interest in such bilateral deals.
?Demands have come from various countries,? said Singh.
?With Oman, we have discussed. Singapore we have concluded. We have done it with Abu Dhabi. Other countries have also asked and we are looking into it. There was lot of discussion about this.?