The Tata Group has appointed Ilker Ayci - former Turkish Airlines Chairman - as Air India’s Managing Director and CEO effective on or before April 1. The development is in line with the Tata Group’s plans to appoint an expatriate chief to run the airline it took over from the Indian government last month. Ilker Ayci was chairman of Turkish Airlines since 2015, and his resignation from the post was announced by the airline on January 27 this year - the same day Tatas were handed over Air India by the Centre. During his professional career, Ayci has been an advisor to the then Mayor of Istanbul Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the Metropolitan Municipality of Istanbul, where he took part in a number of development projects in Turkey’s largest city.
Xpressbees becomes 8th Indian unicorn
Logistics firm Xpressbees has raised $300 million in a funding round led by Blackstone, TPG, and ChrysCapital. The funding values the company at over $1 billion, making it the 8th Indian unicorn this year. The company has raised over $500 million to date. Founded in 2015, Xpressbees operates across 3,000 cities, serving over 20,000 pincodes, and delivers more than 1. 5 million packages per day. It has over 100 hubs across India, and has nearly 10,00,000 sqft of warehouse capacity. The funding will be used to morph Xpressbees into a fullservice logistics company. It will also be used for product development, and hiring talent.
