Malaysian no-frills carrier Air Asia’s announcement of its Indian joint venture comes at a time when airline companies in India are engaged in a fierce fare war. Is this just coincidental? There is no evidence to prove otherwise.
Jet Airways, SpiceJet, IndiGo and Air India are fighting a declining passenger traffic and in their bid to keep their “head above water”, as explained in this Firstpost analysis, are engaged in a “new round of bloodletting”.
This is just one of the bad news from Indian aviation. The government has not made much headway in making its aviation policy friendly for the companies.
Almost dead Kingfisher Airlines itself is a grim reminder of the troubles in the sector.
Though most of the travails of Kingfisher are Chairman Vijay Mallya’s own creation, there are a few, like irrational fuel taxes and airport charges, which the government also has to take the blame for.
Despite this abundance of troubles in Indian aviation, AirAsia Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes is positive about the sector.
He thinks he can change people’s lives here. In an interview in Mint newspaper today, he has said that it is the driver whom he hired during his travel in India who gave him this confidence.
21/02/13 Malaysia Chronicle
