Malaysia's AirAsia invests Rs 115 cr more in AirAsia India

Malaysia's AirAsia Berhad has pumped in additional funds worth Rs 115 crore in AirAsia India, which reported a net loss of Rs 62 crore in the latest September quarter.

In AirAsia India, which started operations in June 2014, the Malaysian carrier holds 49 percent stake while the remaining 51 percent is with the Tatas.

Announcing its earnings for the three months ended September 2016 to the Malaysian stock exchange, AirAsia Berhad said it has increased investments in the Indian joint venture airline.

"In the current quarter, AirAsia Berhad through its wholly-owned subsidiary AirAsia Investment Ltd subscribed to 1,14,905,000 shares of Rs 10 each aggregating Rs 1,149,050,000 equivalent to RM71.1 million. This has increased total investment in AirAsia India...," the Malaysian airline said in a filing.

AirAsia India saw its loss marginally narrow to Rs 62.18 crore in the latest quarter, from Rs 63.14 crore in the year- ago period.

However, revenues rose to 31 percent Rs 175.11 crore in the three months ended September. It stood at Rs 132.95 crore in the same period a year ago.

During the quarter under review, the number of people carried by AirAsia India rose 42 percent with a unit passenger revenue of Rs 2,976. Ancillary income per passenger was at Rs 409 while the load factor was at 88 percent for the local carrier, the filing said.

"In India, the forecast load factor for the third quarter of 2016 is at 84 percent. For the remaining quarter of 2016, AirAsia India will remain focused on building a footprint in the Indian domestic market with the introduction of new routes and frequency increases," the filing said.

Earlier this month, AirAsia India CEO Amar Abrol had said the airline will continue to make investments and expand fleet size to 10 in the current financial year ending March 2017.

AirAsia India came into focus recently after ousted Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry alleged fraudulent transactions of Rs 22 crore at the carrier.