Arun Bhatia, an AirAsia India investor, said to take up the issuer of partner Tata Son's decision to float a separate combination with Singapore Airlines during the upcoming board meeting of the company. Bhatia had openly criticized the move of Tata as he said AirAsia head Tony Fernandes and himself were not notified about the deal. Tata Sons strongly rebutted the claim.
Last Friday, the owner of Telstra Tradeplaced referred to the joint venture with Singapore Airlines as an "unethical" move adding he was "shocked to hear the news."
The AirAsia board meeting was scheduled on September 28 where Bhatia was expected to raise the issue about the Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture. Directors from the Tata Group had been expected to be present during the meeting.
Bhatia told The Economic Times that he had no plans to leave the venture and had offered to buy out the Tatas. Earlier this year, Bhatia together with AirAisa and Tata Group had formed a three way venture to launch a no-frills, low fare airline in India. Bhatia owned 21% in the three way venture while Tata Sons owned 30%. The rest is owned by the Malaysian carrier, AirAsia.
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