AirAsia’s Problems Grow as India Minister Hints at Local Shutdown
(Bloomberg) — AirAsia Group Bhd. is closing its affiliate operations in India, the local aviation minister said over the weekend, a comment his office later suggested was taken out of context.
![a fighter jet sitting on top of a runway: AirAsia Group Bhd. aircraft stand on the tarmac at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA 2) in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia, on Monday, Aug. 24, 2020. AirAsia is scheduled to report its quarterly results on Aug. 28.](https://www.msn.com/{"default":{"load":"default","w":"80","h":"53","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19HQKW.img?h=533&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"},"size3column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"42","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19HQKW.img?h=416&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"},"size2column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"42","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19HQKW.img?h=416&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"}})
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AirAsia Group Bhd. aircraft stand on the tarmac at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA 2) in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia, on Monday, Aug. 24, 2020. AirAsia is scheduled to report its quarterly results on Aug. 28.
“AirAsia’s shop is anyway shutting down,” Hardeep Singh Puri said in televised comments that were widely circulated on social media. “Their parent company has problems.”
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A spokesman for AirAsia India, which is majority owned by Indian conglomerate Tata Group, declined to comment. A spokesman for the civil aviation ministry said Puri’s comments were taken out of context and he had immediately clarified them.
AirAsia, once the poster child of a low-cost airline revolution in Asia, is seeking to raise