AirAsia India Pvt Ltd on Sunday appointed ex-IndiGo official Ankur Garg as its chief commercial officer (CCO), Tata Group’s joint venture airline said in a release.
As CCO, Garg will be managing day-to-day commercial operations including network and revenue management, marketing & sales and cargo. He will be reporting to Sunil Bhaskaran, Managing Director and CEO of AirAsia.
Garg, a few weeks ago, had quit as the vice-president for revenue management, ancillary revenue and distribution for India’s largest airline IndiGo, sources said.
Garg takes over the role of CCO from Sanjay Kumar, who stepped down earlier this month citing personal reasons, Livemint reported
AirAsia India started operations in June 2014, and currently flies to 21 destinations in India with a fleet of 27 A320 aircraft.
The airline plans to expand its India operations by increasing its fleet size to 29 aircraft by the end of December, as it aims to raise frequencies to metro cities and pare unprofitable routes in the upcoming winter schedule.
Losses at AirAsia India, the joint venture between Tata Sons and Malaysia’s AirAsia Berhad, widened five fold to Rs 670 crore in 2018-19 because of high fuel costs, weak rupee and competitive fares. The airline had reported a loss of Rs 125 crore, 140 crore, 181 crore in FY18, FY17 and in FY 16 respectively, according to the data available with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
The budget carrier, which started operations in 2014, has accumulated losses of Rs 1,284 crore at the end of March 2019, financial express reported.