AirAsia not keen to return to India, blames national carrier

Long haul, low-cost carrier, AirAsia X has no plans to return services to India due to a difficult business environment and has criticized Air India for receiving excessive government bailouts.

AirAsia X withdrew its services to India in March of this year, along with flights to Europe from its Kuala Lumpur hub, citing a move to focus operations within core markets.

AirAsia X chief Azran Osma-Rani said the airline is in no rush to re-establish services to India and disapproved of methods employed by India’s national carrier, according to the Economic TImes.

“If India continues to have high infrastructure charges and a heavily subsidised national carrier which dumps prices below cost and keeps on getting bailout money, how is the industry going to prosper? You have to address the big white elephant in the room: Air India.”

Mr Osma-Rani said other challenges facing the Indian continent needed to be addressed and rectified before the country can compete in a profitable manner in regard to tourism.

“China is the most visited Asian country. The challenge for India has been that there are more people going abroad from India but not as many coming into the country.

“India hasn't been able to attract tourists, which is a shame because it has a long tradition and history, a lot of natural beauty. But in spite of that, it is not even among the top ten tourist destinations in the Asia-Pacific,” Mr Osma-Rani said.

Sourced: .etravelblackboardasia