AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes and Deputy CEO, Kamarudin Meranun would like to forget their maiden flight to Chennai.

They landed nearly 45 minutes late from Kuala Lumpur as there was some issue with the emergency lights in their chartered aircraft.

But, on landing, they quickly got on to business — attending two media conferences and a function organised by an educational institution.

Fernandes, clad in a white shirt with a logo of Queens Park Ranger, an English Premier League football team that he owns, and wearing a red cap with the AirAsia logo, spoke to media persons about themuch-awaited launch of AirAsia India, the low-cost airline, in a joint venture with the Tata Group.

At present, AirAsia, through its operations based in Thailand and Malaysia, already connects Chennai, Bangalore Tiruchi, Kochi and Kolkata to Asean countries and beyond. “India is special for me because my roots are here (his father, a Goan, had worked in Kolkata for a long time), ” he said.

Excerpts from the interview:

What will be the key to the success of your India venture?

The key is to be disciplined and focus on our product. We studied this market very hard.

If you cannot make an airline work in a population of 1.2 billion then something is wrong.

India is no different from any other country.

In India we have been operating [in international routes] successfully and profitably.

People and the right cost structure can stimulate the traffic. There are lots of non-traditional ways to create demand in non-metros.

How about partners? In Japan it did not work…

The recent pullout from Japan had nothing to do with the market. It was because of the partner.

They were the highest cost airline in the world and we were the lowest.

They say opposites attract, but not in the airline business. And, that’s the difference between me and Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways. He is a premium man.

That’s why I told him it will be a disaster running a low-cost carrier in India and it was a disaster for him with JetLite.

Having the right partner is very important. I can safely say I will never partner with another airline.

Even in India…

Yes.

How about code sharing with other airlines?

Definitely not, as it does not work, and only adds to the cost. Code share, time-tables and losing utilisation adds to the cost.

What was the logic of selecting a CEO for Indian operations outside the airline industry?

I would never pick up a guy from the aviation industry. The Chennai-born Mittu Chandilya did not come with any preconceived idea.

I wanted someone who has got new ideas, lots of energy and is excited. Chandilya was a headhunter and was supposed to find us someone then.

But looking at his resume, we said, ‘Why don’t you take up the job of CEO?’ and he was surprised. We need some different and approach. His appointment was one.

When will you see returns in India?

In Thailand, it took us two years, in Indonesia three and in the Philippines, one year. In India, I hope we can get back our money in a year, but it has never gone as planned.

Will you expand the relationship with the Tatas beyond aviation?

We can do so in other things like insurance. We are talking with each other.

Do you foresee any problems?

I do not know really. India is no different from other countries.

Maybe the cost of aviation turbine fuel will be difficult to handle but again companies of our size in many ways can reduce it.

We have 150 planes operating and we own most of them. We have brand new fuel-efficient aircraft. So, we can lower the cost structure.

What is the agenda while meeting government officials?

Educate them on our business model. The low-cost airline industry has failed.

There is no two ways about it. So, people are willing to listen to your ideas as well. That helps.

>raja.simhan@thehindu.co.in

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