FEATURE
The Tata Group is getting back into the airline business with a vengeance. After losing Air India decades ago, it is currently in two joint ventures to take back what it gave up in India’s independence in the 1950s.
For its joint venture with Singapore Airlines, it signed a deal to lease 20 Airbus 320s from BOC Aviation this week, a fleet lease operation based in Singapore.
The Press Trust of India reported on Tuesday that Tata will begin receiving the planes by September or October in hopes it will have its permit to carry passengers by then. The Tata-SIA joint venture is a Delhi-based full service carrier with an initial investment of $100 million. Tata will have a 51% stake, and will start out with two flights a day.
Then there’s the creation of the AirAsia India start-up, which brings the Malaysian carrier to India’s domestic market.
