> AirAsia flies to India

AirAsia Bhd will fly to India beginning Dec 1 with its inaugural flight to Thiruchi in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

AirAsia's group chief executive officer, Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes, said the airline expected a huge growth from Indian tourism to contribute to its new route.

"I anticipate very high load factor for this flight (probably) about 90 percent from the first week, which should probably be the strongest route we have ever done," he told a media briefing here Monday.

He said there was a huge potential for the airline as Thiruchi was the fourth largest city in Tamil Nadu with a population of 1.6 million.

Thiruchi, famous for its fusion architecture and monuments, will be the first destination for AirAsia, before it embarks on nine other locations in India within the next one-and-a-half years.

Other routes include Madras, Cochin, Madurai and Kovaibutore while for AirAsia X, they are looking at New Delhi, Mumbai and Hydrabad.

Tony said to cater to the new routes, the carrier would be spending about RM5 to RM7 million for new infrastructure including the opening of an office in Thiruchi.

Booking for the flight, which will be on a daily basis, will start on Wednesday midnight with offer price starting from RM49 while an average fare price of RM200 for one-way flight.

For India, AirAsia would be using 10 A320 planes - Bernama.