Despite being conservative with its growth plans, AirAsia which was launched in 2014 has been losing money drastically in these times of pandemic. For this, the airlines’ Malaysian partner – AirAsia Bhd had also approached Tata sons to sell about 49 percent of its share, but even the majority shareholders - Tata Sons Ltd which holds 51 percent of its share has been very keen of exiting from Air-Asia India.
If we see the figures in the May month, this budget airline had a 7.8 percent share in the Indian market and was placed in the fifth position. AirAsia has been facing a serious downhill as per the disruptions that have been caused by COVID-19.
A person said, requesting anonymity, “Tata is not very keen on staying invested in AirAsia India. AirAsia’s Malaysian partner had approached Tata Sons to sell its 49% but Tata has not accepted the offer. In fact, the plan, which is in a preliminary stage, is to exit holding in AirAsia India and focus more on Vistara." However, both the Tata Sons spokesperson and AirAsia Bhd’s Chief Executive refused to comment on the queries sent across to them via mail.
While the report made by the Aviation consultancy Capa India, they have estimated that AirAsia India has lost more than $60 Million in the fiscal year 2020. And moreover, it had always been a not so friendly partnership between the two stakeholders.
CAPA India has also said that except the Indigo Airlines who is the current market leader, all the other Indian Airlines need to raise a minimum of $3.5 Billion to survive and overcome the grounding that has been caused due to the safety measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. They have also said that airborne traffic will almost decline to 55 million this year due to the spread of coronavirus pandemic.
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