After ousted Tata group Chairman Cyrus Mistry alleged Rs 22 crore worth fraudulent transactions at AirAsia India (AAI), the airline on Monday said probe is going on against certain former executives for "irregular personal expense claims" and other charges.
"There is an ongoing investigation against certain former personnel of AirAsia (India) ltd involving irregular personal expense claims and certain company charges. This has already been reported to and discussed at the previous board meeting of AirAsia (India) ltd," the airline said in a statement.
The carrier also said it would not make any specific reference to the matters investigated at this stage as it may be prejudicial to AirAsia (India) ltd or the personnel investigated.
AirAsia India is a joint venture between Tatas, which own 51 per cent stake, and Malaysia's AirAsia Berhad.
Noting that the airline, AirAsia Berhad and Tata Sons look into all allegations of impropriety and misappropriation very seriously, the statement said the three entities do not approve of any unethical practices and would take very stern action against the perpetrators at all levels of the organisation.
"The three entities would like to reiterate that they strictly adhere to internal procedures and policies," it added.
A day after being sacked as Chairman, Mistry in a letter to Tata Sons Board on October 25 raised "ethical concerns" in AirAsia India and alleged that forensic investigation revealed fraudulent transactions of Rs 22 crore involving non-existent entities in India and Singapore.
The Civil Aviation Ministry said last week that it was keeping a close watch on developments related to the purported disclosures made by Mistry about AirAsia India and would act if something actionable is brought to its notice.
Meanwhile, the budget carrier flew 5.89 lakh passengers in three months ended September, 2016, a 42 per cent increase from the number of passengers who flew in the airline in the year-ago period.
The airline during the quarter added three new destinations in its route network while capacity (number of total seats flown) increased by 23 per cent to 6.72 lakh, AirAsia said in a statement on Monday.
The number of passengers carried (by AirAsia India) increased 42 per cent YoY to 0.59 million (5.89 lakh), while the capacity increased by 23 per cent in July-September quarter of the current year, AirAsia said.
In AAI, while Tata Sons and Malaysian no-frills airline AirAsia Berhad each holds 49 per cent stake, two of the airline's directors, S Ramadorai and R Venkataramanan, hold 2 per cent stake.
Three new routes --Bengaluru-Guwahati, Bengaluru-Hyderabad and Hyderabad-Goa were added in the flight network during the quarter while frequencies were scaled up on the Bengaluru-Goa route.
The airline also increased its seat factor by 12 per cent to 88 per cent from 76 per cent recorded in the quarter ended September 2015, it said.
As on September 30, AirAsia India had eight Airbus A32O aircraft in its fleet against five in Q3 2015, it added.