AirAsia CEO: Some Airlines Scared of Us
After triggering off an airline fare war, AirAsia has now made some strong comments against rivals. Ahead of AirAsia India’s maiden flight on June 12, the budget carrier’s group CEO Tony Fernandes in a recent tweet said, “Some airlines scared of us. We must be doing something write (sic). Help us people of India. Don’t let cartels win and not let ordinary man fly.”
His tweet comes in the backdrop of other domestic airlines represented by Federation of Indian Airlines urging the government to advise the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) not to allow the new no-frill airline to launch its operations. Federation of Indian Airlines claimed that approvals granted to AirAsia India were “illegal”. FIA’s letter sent by associate director Ujjwal Dey said: “It is obvious that the actions taken by the last government and more particularly by the DGCA have been to preempt a review of this matter by the new government and to proceed with indecent haste … While foreign investment needs to be encouraged, the same cannot be at the cost of the domestic industry, which is rightly the position of this government as in the case of FDI in retail.”
AirAsia India had won flying permit from Indian regulator, the DGCA, last month. Tata Group and Delhi-based investment firm Telestra Tradeplace are AirAsia’s partners in the Indian venture.
Even before AirAsia’s takeoff into Indian skies, it has triggered a fare war.
