Malaysia-based Air Asia is planning to boost its flight operations and develop more routes to India, realizing the potential generated by growing travel demands in the country. The carrier plans to penetrate the South Indian market by expanding its network to Bangkok by next year, Suresh Nair, country head of AirAsia, tells Aviation Week. “AirAsia will soon operate 14 flights weekly from Chennai and almost 100 flights from India,” he says. The airline also intends to increase its frequency on the Chennai-Kuala Lumpur route, Nair says.

NEW DELHI — India is eyeing MK-54 lightweight torpedoes from the U.S. to arm its eight P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft being assembled by Boeing.

India’s increasing sales taxes on air tickets are negatively affecting the country’s civil aviation industry, warn aviation experts. “While taxes provide a tangible short-term revenue boost to the government coffers, increased taxes in the long term can be outweighed by the cost to the underlying economy,” aviation finance expert Charles Tyler says.