New Delhi: Air India, the country’s largest state-owned airline, has suffered heavy losses. Thus, the Union government sold it for Rs 18,000 crore. Tata Sons, part of the Tata Group, acquired the company on January 17. Meanwhile, Tata Sons has stepped in to further strengthen its presence in the aviation industry. As a part of this, Air India is expanding its kingdom by buying small airlines that are running at a loss. The first to be caught in the web is Air Asia India.
Malaysia-based AirAsia has been involved in domestic airlines in India under the name ‘Air Asia India’ with a 16.33 per cent stake (worth Rs 139 crore) since 2014. Its business, which operates under the quality mantra of complete service at a low cost, has not taken off due to stiff competition. So, the cart is running at a loss. Air Asia is trying to sell this.
Through the ‘Competition Authority of India’, applications are solicited to sell this. Tata Sons is applying to buy this. Following this, Vistara Airlines, which operates in India with a 25 per cent stake in partnership with Singapore Airlines, and Indigo, which has a 54 per cent stake. Tata Sons is also looking to acquire Air India Express. In doing so, it aims to create the largest empire in the aviation industry.
* Although it has been operating domestic flights to India since 2014, Air Asia India does not operate overseas flights.
* Tata Sons, which plans to transform Air India into India’s largest airline in the next few years, plans to set up its 70,000 sq ft headquarters at Gurugram near Delhi.