DUBAI // The head of the Lulu hypermarkets chain has quit as a director of Air India amid revived plans for a new budget airline.
Yusuffali MA said he was disappointed that he had failed to cut fares and improve service on the Indian government-owned carrier, and there was now a conflict of interest with his involvement in the new airline. "The Kerala government is going to explore Air Kerala," Mr Yusuffali, managing director of the Emke group in Abu Dhabi, which owns Lulu, said on Saturday.
"This will be discussed at the Emerging Kerala meeting in September. I can't attend the meeting as an Air India board member."
Mr Yusuffali was appointed to the Air India board by the Indian government in 2010. He said he had "tried my level best to bring change to the way the national airline is working", but tendered his resignation on Friday.
"Thousands of our countrymen are getting stranded in airports because frequent flight cancellations delayed services, and there are unjustified fare hikes, especially in peak seasons," Mr Ali said.
"I really feel dejected at not being able to do justice to the faith reposed in me and I have decided to step down."
Mr Ali said he felt he had been unable to offer more help to expatriate Indians, who have been upset over Air India's high fares and lack of reliability.
"I couldn't fulfil the promises of non-resident Keralites to reduce fares on Air India or improve connectivity," he said.
The struggling government airline has suffered huge financial losses. Hundreds of its pilots recently ended a 58-day strike after a court ordered them to return to work. Concerns have also been raised over the airline's ageing fleet.
The Kerala state government announced plans to launch a low-cost carrier five years ago to offer affordable air travel between the state and Arabian Gulf countries, where millions of Indian expatriates come to work.
Mr Ali was appointed director of Air Kerala International Services, a company registered by the Kerala state government to operate a low-cost airlines, but the project went no further.
Now there are plans to revive it. "It is up to the Kerala government to go ahead with the plans," said Mr Ali.
It is not known if any new budget carrier would be given permission to operate overseas immediately as India's civil aviation authority requires airlines to first operate in domestic sectors for five consecutive years and to have a minimum fleet of 20 aircraft.