AirAsia India appoints Ramadorai as chairman

AirAsia India on Monday moved closer to getting off the ground by appointing S Ramadorai as its chairman, ending months-long suspense and having in place the entire top management team.

A day after getting Tata Group patriarch Ratan Tata as the chief advisor, AirAsia Group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes on Monday announced the name of Tata Consultancy Services vice-chairman S Ramadorai as the chairman of his proposed low-cost airline venture in India.

Subramanian Ramadorai was also formerly the chief executive of the country's largest software exporter.

"I would like to confirm Ramadorai as chairman of AirAsia India, a giant of Indian industry, and man from the South," Fernandes tweeted.

"That completes our team. Advisor, chairman, CEO and the board. Quite a heavyweight team for super exciting AirAsia India," Fernandes posted on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Ramadorai is the fourth person from the Tatas to hold a position in airline joint venture after Ratan Tata as chief advisor, and R Venkataraman (former executive assistant to Ratan Tata) and Bharat Vasani (chief legal counsel of the Tata Group), who are directors on the board.

AirAsia India is a joint venture of Air Asia, Tata Sons and Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace with 49:30:21 holding.

On Sunday, Fernandes had announced the name of Tata as the chief advisor to the board and promised 'Nano' airfares once it begins operating flights in the country which is likely by the fourth quarter of 2013.

"Persuading Tata to be advisor has not been easy. Critical, we have someone of his massive experience to help me chart AirAsia India with Mittu (Chandilya) and myself," Fernandes had tweeted on Sunday.