AirAsia India Is Born

AirAsia (India) Pvt. Ltd on Wednesday received the air operating permit from the regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

An AirAsia India executive, requesting anonymity, confirmed the development.

The permit was the last hurdle for AirAsia (India), a venture of Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd, Tata Sons Ltd and Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace Pvt. Ltd.

In February, DGCA dismissed a demand by private airlines in India, including IndiGo (run by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd), Jet Airways (India) Ltd, SpiceJet Ltd and GoAir (run by Go Airlines (India) Ltd), objecting to the grant of a licence to AirAsia India, arguing that a September 2012 policy change allowing foreign airlines to invest in local airlines was applicable only to existing airlines and not new ones.​

The approval to AirAsia India will be subject to any future directions from the high court, a DGCA official said. The official declined to be named.

The Supreme Court had said in February that awarding a licence to AirAsia is subject to the outcome of the Delhi high court decision. The high court is hearing a plea by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy seeking stay on further approvals to the proposed airline venture between Malaysia’s AirAsia and the Tata Group.