AirAsia India reports 42% increase in passenger traffic

Budget carrier AirAsia India (AAI) flew 5.89 lakh passengers in three months ended September, 2016, a 42% increase from the number of passengers who flew in the airline in the year-ago period.

The airline during the quarter added three new destinations in its route network while capacity (number of total seats flown) increased by 23% to 6.72 lakh, AirAsia said in a statement on Monday.

The number of passengers carried (by AirAsia India) increased 42% YoY to 0.59 million (5.89 lakh), while the capacity increased by 23% in July-September quarter of the current year, AirAsia said.

In AAI, while Tata Sons and Malaysian no-frills airline AirAsia Berhad each holds 49% stake, two of the airline's directors, S Ramadorai and R Venkataramanan, hold 2% stake.

Three new routes - Bengaluru-Guwahati, Bengaluru-Hyderabad and Hyderabad-Goa were added in the flight network during the quarter while frequencies were scaled up on the Bengaluru-Goa route.

The airline also increased its seat factor by 12% to 88% from 76% recorded in the quarter ended September 2015, it said.

As on September 30, AirAsia India had eight Airbus A32O aircraft in its fleet against five in Q3 2015, it added.

Significantly ousted Tata group chairman Cyrus Mistry, in a letter written a day after his abrupt removal had raised "ethical concerns" in Tata group's jv with AirAsia and alleged that forensic investigation revealed fraudulent transactions of Rs 22 crore involving non-existent entities in India and Singapore.

"Board members and trustees are also aware that in the case of AirAsia, ethical concerns have been raised with respect to certain transactions as well as over all prevailing culture within the organisation.

"A recent forensic investigation revealed fraudulent transactions of Rs 22 crore involving non-existent parties in India and Singapore," Mistry said in the letter.

The Government has already said that "all issues (regarding AirAsia India) would be looked into and law of the land will have to be followed in case of any violation.