AirAsia India aims to compare its fares with first-class train tickets

Bangalore: The newest airline in the country, AirAsia India, aims to compare its average fares with first-class train tickets and not just depend on metro cities as most Indian carriers do, its chief executive officer Mittu Chandilya said on Thursday. Addressing the media on the occasion of the airline’s inaugural flight from Bangalore to Goa, Chandilya said the airline will have at least nine destinations by the end of the year and will add a plane a month to its fleet over the next few months.
The airline, a joint venture between Malaysia’s AirAsia Berhad, Tata Sons and Telstra, is looking to price itself 30-35% cheaper than rivals and expects to break even in four months. It will compete with other low-fare carriers in India such as IndiGo, GoAir and SpiceJet. The airline will announce its next route, likely to Kerala, next week.

“In India, the average price of an airline ticket is significantly high and there is no difference between a full service carrier and a low-cost carrier. That’s why I keep saying that India hasn’t seen a low-cost carrier yet,” Chandilya told reporters at Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport ahead of the inaugural flight. “Railways first-class is my target. I don’t compete with other airlines.”
Read news in full 13/06/14 Financial Express