‘It’s definitely better to have one wife than four’
NEW DELHI: The government should provide a levelplaying field and not just suit four or five tycoons, AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes told HT in an interview a day after Tata Sons increased its stake in their joint venture airline in India. “It’s time for India to stop putting selfinterest above national interest,” he said. Excerpts:
What’s your take on Tatas increasing stake in AirAsia India? It obviously shows Tatas are very committed to AirAsia India. Both of us are committed to whatever capital is required to grow the airline. We are going to add two planes soon and I would like to take it to 10. We are also removing the uncertainty over shareholders and are clear on our capital raising plan. Secondly, we have worked hard in getting a new management. All the blocks are in place.
By when will you add two planes? It’s imminent.
What was the need for Tatas to buy out Arun Bhatia’s stake?
You will have to ask the Tatas.
Would it have been better for AirAsia India to have been a two-way JV from the beginning? It’s definitely better to have one wife than four but at that time the Tatas did not want to own more than 30% and so we needed other shareholders. But I don’t regret anything. Arun Bhatia has put in a lot of effort. I wish him good luck. Will the issue of foreign control be finally settled with Tatas increasing their stake? I never thought there was an issue. Obviously, if Tatas thought there was an issue they won’t be extending their stake. The chairman has himself become a stakeholder. Having Tatas there as a much larger shareholder further confirms that they never had an issue about this foreign control.
What are your views on the regulatory problems in India? We need less regulation. Obviously, the government should facilitate business and provide a level-playing field, not a field just to suit four or five tycoons.
How will the abolition of the 5/20 rule help? It’s time for India to stop putting self interest above national interest. Everyone can see clearly that India has been short of international connectivity and that hurts the economy...
When people are willing to invest to improve the lives of
Indians and improve the economy then why not? If Emirates or Etihad or Qatar are putting in more flights for more people to come to India and invest, so be it. To have a policy to just stop international (routes) so that people are forced to do domestic makes no sense. Both domestic and international should grow.
Really, a lot of this has been put in place to please owners of some Indian carriers. I think India has moved beyond protecting a few businessmen.
There was lot of hype surrounding AirAsia India’s launch. Have you lived up to expectations? No one in AirAsia India made any promises or deadlines. This is not a two-year story. We haven’t been able to grow as much as we wanted to because of so many court cases, obstacles, lobbying etc.
Of course, there was hype. Have we lived up to that? No. But are we giving up? Clearly not. One of our major shareholders is putting in more capital. Imagine if there was only one mobile phone provider or one newspaper in India, it won’t have been such a vibrant media industry.
Vistara has grown much faster than AirAsia India.
Vistara is only one airline. I have the potential for investment in many different places — Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan etc. Singapore Airlines has one overseas investment.
Both Tata and I want to make sure we are not sinking money into a black hole.
In a short period, Vistara has changed their business model. We are very experienced in this. There is no point rushing in like a bull in a china shop and losing millions of dollars. So, we are slowly learning the market. We are not here to see who is bigger. Let’s see who is here in 10-15 years’ time. You have applied to become an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Let me make it clear through your newspaper: I didn’t apply for OCI for anything to do with AirAsia India. I applied because my dad would have been proud. I applied because I want to spend more time in India and I was told I am same as an NRI and I can buy houses, I don’t need a visa etc. So, that was a bonus. It has nothing to do with AirAsia India.
We are probably more Indian in substance than many Indian airlines. Jet has Etihad, plus Naresh (Goyal) lives in London. I am told that GoAir guys live in Turkey, IndiGo is an American airline from what I can see. So, apart from Air India they all got foreign connections.
When will AirAsia India break even? I don’t know. But we are moving in the right path.
It has been made clear by the Indian PM that tourism is a key goal. We still have aviation tax fuel and very high airport charges...the government should focus on that as well to allow more people to fly.