AirAsia India inches towards international permit

AirAsia India (I5, Bangalore Int’l) is closing in on obtaining international flying rights, the Economic Times newspaper has reported, a development that would give its conglomerate parent Tata Sons four airlines with permits for overseas operations in the near future. It currently has only one with such permission, Vistara (UK, Delhi Int’l).

The acquisition of Air India and Air India Express by Tata subsidiary Talace is now expected to conclude by the end of December, and both of these airlines operate international flights.

Anonymous sources told the newspaper that AirAsia India, in which Tata holds an 83.67% stake, recently received security clearance to commence international operations. However, many other civil aviation procedures still need to be tackled, such as securing separate permits for scheduling, slotting, and training. According to the inside sources, these steps could take another two to six months.

The budget carrier, in which AirAsia Group maintains a 16.33% stake – the Malaysian group has signalled it will exit the Indian business by March 2022 – currently operates 47 routes within India with its fleet of 35 aircraft (thirty A320-200s and five A320-200Ns), the ch-aviation fleets advanced and ch-aviation capacities modules show.