AirAsia aims to start India operations by April: Tony Fernandes

Low-cost carrier AirAsia, which has set up a joint venture with Tatas, expects to start India operations by April, its chief Tony Fernandes has said.

"Our confidence grows by the day. We are very excited. I think it is a great time to go into India," Fernandes, who is here to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meet, said.

Speaking to television channel CNBC-TV18, Fernandes said he was very bullish on India and expects to start operations there by March-April.

"We feel relatively optimistic that we can do something special in India," he stated.

Mittu Chandilya is the CEO of AirAsia's Indian venture, where other stakeholders include Tata group and Telstra Tradeplace.

On September 20 last year, AirAsia India got the No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Civil Aviation Ministry to start airline operations in India after which it applied to the aviation regulator for a permit.

It plans to operate a fleet of Airbus A320-200 aircraft, initially with 4-5 planes and quickly expand it to ten in a year.