Tony Fernandes' father was of Goan origin.
Tony Fernandes, Group CEO of leading Asian budget carrier AirAsia who had raked up Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal's NRI status during a debate over foreign control of airlines, has been granted Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card by the central government.
The OCI status gives Fernandes, an Malaysian national, parity with vis-a-vis non-resident Indians (NRIs) in financial and economic transactions. The development comes amid questions raised over foreign control in AirAsia and Vistara. The Federation of Indian Airlines, an association of four domestic carriers -- Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir -- have raised concerns about control and ownership at AirAsia India.
Fernandes, whose father was of Goan origin, announced the development on the second anniversary of AirAsia India on Sunday. "I am also delighted to share that I have been granted the OCI status. India has always been close to my heart as my father was from this country and Goa is my ancestral homeland. My father's posting brought him to Malaysia, but he never stopped talking about Goa and the rest is history." he said in a statement.
Fernandes said he landed in Goa for the first time only during the inaugural flight of AirAsia India from Bengaluru to Goa.
The OCI status provides parity with NRIs in financial and economic areas apart from getting multiple entry and multi-purpose life long visa to visit India. Also, it exempts him from reporting to police for any length of stay in India. Among other criteria, any person who is grandchild/great grandchild of a foreign national who was/or eligible as a citizen of India at the time of, or at any time after January 26, 1950 can be given the status of OCI.
"I have already applied. I applied last week... then I will be the same as everyone else... I will be the same as Naresh Goyal (Jet Airways Chairman)," media reports in March had quoted Fernandes, who had termed the whole issue of foreign control as bizzare. "Naresh Goyal (promoter of Jet airways) lives in London as an NRI. SpiceJet used to be owned by an American. IndiGo has tonnes of American shareholders. In fact, you can look at the shareholding, there is more foreign shareholding than local shareholding," Fernandes had said on the sidelines of India Aviation 2016 event in Hyderabad.
At present Tata Sons owns 49% stakes in AirAsia while AirAsia Investment holds 49%. The remaining 2% stake is with S Ramadorai and R Venkataramanan. The controversy over foreign control became stronger late last year after Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace, who held stake in the airline, claimed that the carrier was being remote-controlled by Fernandes, a charge refuted later by AirAsia. It intensified after BJP leader Subramanian Swamy approached Supreme Court claiming violations in the airline's holding pattern.
Helped by higher passenger load, AirAsia India had in March this year narrowed its loss to Rs 7.86 crore for March quarter as revenue soared 179% to Rs 196 crore. The airline had posted net losses of Rs 26 crore in December quarter and Rs 65 crore during July-September last fiscal. The airline has flown around 2.5 million passengers by last month. It currently operates flights from its current base in Bengaluru and Delhi to Chandigarh, Goa, Guwahati, Imphal, Jaipur, Kochi, Pune and Visakhapatnam.
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