AirAsia India has sought the Union Civil Aviation Ministry’s nod to run its proposed airline operations from the old terminal of the Chennai airport. AirAsia's requisition comes in the wake of the government's decision to privatise six more AAI-run airports. The company is concerned over an expected cost escalation due to the airports' privatisation.
AirAsia operates from the low-cost terminal of the main Kuala Lumpur international airport even in its base country Malaysia.
The Union government has recently decided to hand over six Airports Authority of India (AAI) run airports in Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jaipur and Guwahati to private companies after investing over Rs 5,000 crore of public funds for their modernisation.