AirAsia India firms plans for international launch

Even as Malaysia’s AirAsia and its affiliates in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines initiate operations to India, nearly 3-year old AirAsia India continues preparations for international operations next year while serving as a domestic feeder to its group. India’s civil aviation policy mandates a domestic carrier must fly 3 years and operate at least 20 aircraft before launching international flights. Now flying 8 Airbus A320s, AirAsia India plans to increase its fleet size to 14 by October and to 20 by autumn 2018, CE Amar Abrol said. The airline will primarily connect metropolitan centres to second-tier cities as it expands. “The overall strategy is route dominance rather than getting hammered everywhere,” said Abrol. AirAsia took delivery of its first A320neo last September and plans to accelerate deliveries this year. <br/>