AirAsia announces expansion plans for India

AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes said that India, particularly the south, is a large market and an important destination for the carrier, adding it is interested in investing and launching an Air Asia carrier in the region (DHNS, 02-Jun-2011). The vision 2020 for AirAsia is to have 680 aircraft. "But our planning department is a bit over ambitious and I think we will be able to buy 300 planes which will work out to about three a month," Mr Fernandes added.

AirAsia: "We pulled out of Hyderabad International Airport, as the GMR group was not interested in low-cost carriers. The airport charges there are too high. It is 100% more than in other airports. There is Nano market and a BMW market. Most of the airports look at premium passengers. But we cater to the passengers who have never flown before. In the north it is Amritsar we are looking at as a destination to fly our low-cost carriers. Indians are becoming more travel savvy now and realising this we are focussing on destinations like Phuket and Langkawi the hot tourist spots," Source: DHNS, 02-Jun-2011.