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Tag: airasia

  • AirAsia to Expand E-Commerce Beyond Selling Plane Tickets

    AirAsia to Expand E-Commerce Beyond Selling Plane Tickets

    AirAsia Group, Southeast Asia’s largest budget carrier, wants to sell more than cheap flight tickets. AirAsia is talking to potential partners to build an e-commerce app that it wants to see overtake the size of its airline business, Group Deputy Chief Executive Aireen Omar said in an interview. The carrier, which is seen getting about 1 billion ringgit ($240 million) revenue a year from its AirAsia.com website, expects to earn 20 times more as it expands into an app that will offer lifestyle goods and services.

    “This will be bigger than the airline itself,” Aireen said at her office at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. “There’s a lot you can do in just one app and that’s what we are trying to do with our travel and lifestyle app.”

    The budget airline, which carries 100 million passengers annually, is bolstering its digital capability to tap a regional e-commerce market that’s set to increase threefold to $240 billion by 2025, CEO and Founder Tony Fernandes said last month. Premium carriers Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. are already turning to onboard duty-free sales to boost revenue, while AirAsia’s app will also offer everything from hotel bookings to beauty products and dinner vouchers.

    AirAsia, which announced a special dividend of 90 sen a share Wednesday, climbed 8% as of 4:14 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur. The shares rose as much as 16% earlier, the steepest gain since 2004.

    The digital business is likely to be spun off in the near future, Aireen said, without giving details.

    Fernandes has slowly but surely prepared the company to focus on this digital drive. AirAsia has sold aircraft parked in leasing companies and disposed a stake in its ground-handling operations. He also restructured the company to have an investment holding group as its publicly listed entity and separated the Malaysian airline business.

    The moves come as the budget carrier grapples with rising risks to its airline business, from the closing of holiday destination Boracay island and natural disasters in Indonesia last year, as well as Malaysia’s clampdown on price surges during high season.

    Meanwhile, Brent has gained almost 30% this year, increasing costs for airlines from Singapore Air to Deutsche Lufthansa AG, which posted lower first-quarter profit partly due to higher oil prices. AirAsia’s net income slipped 92% in the three months through March from a year earlier, it said in a filing on Wednesday.

    The company realized about three years ago that it’s rich with consumer data that a lot of people would want access to, Aireen said. It plans to use the data to market goods and services in a targeted way and provide Internet connection on all its planes to sell products to passengers during the flight.

    The new app will eventually consolidate its current AirAsia BIG Loyalty program, which already partners with vendors from Nike Inc. to Sephora to give special offers and discounts.

  • CAE signs new deal with AirAsia in the Philippines

    CAE signs new deal with AirAsia in the Philippines

    CAE has signed a new five-year training agreement for AirAsia’s A320 pilots in the Philippines, extending the use of the CAE Rise training system to a third AirAsia affiliate.

    Through the new agreement, announced at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting (AGM), CAE will continue to provide initial training for the airline’s pilots and will soon undertake recurrent training at CAE Clark – Philippine Academy for Aviation Training (PAAT) in the Philippines, starting in July 2019.

    “AirAsia has embarked on a mission to digitise every aspect of their business and by implementing the CAE Rise™ training system they are better able to train and develop their pilots using real-time insights alongside a new level of training data analytics,” said Nick Leontidis, CAE’s Group president, Civil Aviation Training Solutions. “Just recently AirAsia extended the use of the CAE Rise™ training system on the Airbus A330 platform and it’s an honor to see them extend this training system on the Airbus A320 platform with a third airline affiliate.”

    Earlier this year CAE announced the signing of a five-year training agreement for AirAsia’s long-haul pilots, extending the use of the CAE Rise training system to AirAsia’s long-haul affiliate, AirAsia X on the Airbus A330 platform.

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  • AirAsia’s new biggest shareholder is holding firm of party-list rep

    AirAsia’s new biggest shareholder is holding firm of party-list rep

    AirAsia Inc on Monday said F&S Holdings Inc, owned by 1-PACMAN party-list Rep. Michael “Mikee” Romero, is now the biggest shareholder of the budget airline’s Philippine arm after acquiring an additional 28.8 percent stake, which raised the holding firm’s ownership to 44.5 percent.

    Prior to the acquisition, Romero’s group owned 15.7 percent shares. Thirteen percent and 15.8 percent of shares were acquired from Ambassador Fred Yao and Maan Hontiveros, Romero’s wife Sheila Romero said in a press conference.

    “Rep. Romero said Air Asia Inc will continue to scale new heights for the multi-awarded Philippines AirAsia,” the carrier said in a statement.

    Businessman Antonio “Tonyboy” Cojuangco’s TNR Holdings has 15.7 percent shares, while the remaining 40 percent remain with AirAsia Berhad founders Tony Fernandes and his partner Kamarudin Menardum.

    Romero said he is bullish about AirAsia’s prospects this year as airlines have been booking 90 percent of seats recently.

    He said AirAsia is recapitalizing and restructuring its equities and is aiming to have an initial public offering of around $200 million worth of shares later this year.

    The company is also aiming to add 50 planes within the next 10 years and add more routes as it competes in the budget air travel market.

    “In fact we want to lower the prices and add more routes and flights,” Romero said in an interview with ANC’s Business Nightly.

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  • India needs 10k pilots by 2030 says AirAsia

    India needs 10k pilots by 2030 says AirAsia

    Despite the current slump in the domestic aviation market, India will require up to 10,000 new pilots by 2030. Acknowledging this, AirAsia India on Tuesday launched the country’s first cadet-pilot program, ready to send its first batch of 15 cadets to New Zealand for flight training.

    By passenger volumes, India was ranked second globally among the fastest growing domestic markets for aviation. This would only mean the requirement for pilots will spike in the future, even as the Kingfisher and Jet Airways pilots are being quickly absorbed by other airlines.  To get the cadet-pilot project going, AirAsia India has partnered with New Zealand Academy and Harrison Omniview Consulting. As part of the 18-24 month course, selected candidates will be trained at the currently under-utilized Oamaru airport in New Zealand’s Waitaki district.

    The first batch of the cadets will come out in 2021, informs AirAsia India’s Head of Operations, Capt Manish Uppal. Cadets earn their second officer rank and commercial pilot license after 500 hours of flying before graduating to first officer, senior first officer, and captain, in charge of the entire aircraft and crew.

    The first batch of the cadets will come out in 2021, informs AirAsia India’s Head of Operations, Capt Manish Uppal. Cadets earn their second officer rank and commercial pilot license after 500 hours of flying before graduating to first officer, senior first officer and captain, in charge of the entire aircraft and crew.  Headquartered in Bengaluru, AirAsia India currently has a fleet of 21 Airbus-A320 aircraft covering 19 destinations across the country. The airline had commenced operations in India on June 12th.

    Uppal informs 11% of the airline’s crew are women. Most of the batch passing out from the cadet-pilot program are expected to be absorbed by the airline.

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  • AirAsia Deputy CEO Confident That they Will Become the Amazon of Travel

    AirAsia Deputy CEO Confident That they Will Become the Amazon of Travel

    There was no backtracking from AirAsia in its plan to branch out into selling other airlines on its platform, financial services, and more experiences.

    Asked in Singapore  if becoming the Amazon of travel is overly ambitious, Aireen Omar, AirAsia’s deputy CEO, technology and digital said it’s “ambitious, but I think it’s very doable.”

    Another AirAsia executive recently made the declaration that the airline could become the “Amazon of travel.”

    Omar argued that AirAsia’s wealth of data from such things as its bookings systems and passenger management equip it to improve revenue management and personalization and to make its operation more efficient.

    The idea is to provide a seamless journey for passengers and to build new business areas for the airline beyond its core flying.

    Omar said AirAsia has been approaching other airlines about selling tickets, and that most are not afraid of doing that because they can take advantage of AirAsia’s network and data.

    Although AirAsia is interested in offering innovative payment systems, Omar said the airline would not use cryptocurrencies because their value fluctuates greatly, and AirAsia is interested in engendering consumer trust.

    Omar made a pitch for the greater inclusion of women in the airline industry. She said around 6 percent of AirAsia’s engineers are women, and so are about 10 percent of its pilots.

    Schools new to open up their curriculum to encourage women to become data scientists, for example, and to work for airlines.

    Omar is responsible for AirAsia’s digital strategy, promoting innovation throughout the group and encouraging collaboration across AirAsia’s businesses and markets. She oversees large, strategic group-wide initiatives to help transform AirAsia into a global, cloud-driven product and platform company.

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  • AirAsia aims international flights by October

    AirAsia aims international flights by October

    AirAsia India aims to start international operations in by October this year, its chief operating officer said Monday. The joint venture carrier between Tata Sons and Malaysian low fare airline AirAsia Berhad is looking at short haul destinations in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Kuala Lumpur airline recently received its 21st plane and aims to take the fleet size to 40 in a year, Kumar added. It operates 154 daily flights.

    Earlier this year the airline presented a plan to its board to deploy 40% of its fleet overseas in five years. The government had been investigating the airline for alleged irregular lobbying for international rights. Kumar didn’t comment on the probe but indicated its plans for starting flights by October were firm.

    AirAsia India last month got a boost from its parents by getting a fund infusion of Rs 500 crore for its expansion. That followed an overhaul of its top management, getting IndiGo veteran Kumar as COO and former Tata Steel chief Sunil Bhaskaran as CEO.

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  • AirAsia appoints Kris Taute to global communications role based in Kuala Lumpur

    AirAsia appoints Kris Taute to global communications role based in Kuala Lumpur

    AirAsia Australia PR and communications manager Kris Taute has moved to the airline’s Kuala Lumpur headquarters for a new global communications role.

    Taute had joined Air Asia last year, moving from the New South Wales state government, having worked for both Transport for NSW and for the state tourism body.

    In his new role as group manager communications for editorial, Taute will be responsible for the editorial communications of the airlines and its subsidiaries including  AirAsia and AirAsia X group of airlines, as well as lifestyle brands such as AirAsia Big Loyalty, travel360.com, Vidi, BigPay, RedCargo Logistics, Rokki, and Ourshop.

    In addition, Daphne Cheah is now ASEAN communications manager moving from a previous role as regional head green and sustainability.

    Taute has been replaced by Sarah Quinn who moves from Destination NSW and takes charge as PR and communication manager for AirAsia Australia.

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  • AirAsia, beyond 1Q19 and headline numbers

    AirAsia, beyond 1Q19 and headline numbers

    Tan Sri Tony Fernandes tweeted two months ago that AirAsia Group Bhd will have its “best year” in 2019, and so far headline numbers look okay, if not promising, at least for the first quarter ended March 30, 2019 (1QFY19). Jet fuel prices are at around its hedging price — 52% of its fuel needs in FY19 has been hedged at an effective exercise price of around US$78 (RM326.82) of jet fuel — while passenger load factor is expected to stay solid at 87.9%. The group chief executive officer (CEO) has also hinted that its Asean joint ventures would “perform well”.

    Notwithstanding that, AirAsia’s share price has been underweight so far this year ahead of the release of its 1QFY19 results, scheduled on Wednesday, probably because investors remain wary after the airline’s biggest loss-making quarter last year.

    MFRS16 on pricier sale-leaseback model

    AirAsia made two sale-leaseback deals with BBAM Ltd Partnership for US$1.185 billion (RM4.62 billion) in 2018 and Castlelake LP worth US$768 million (RM3.17 billion) in 2019 to lease back a combination of 108 planes to free up cash, pare debt and fund its digital venture.

    The higher operating lease expenses partly caused AirAsia’s RM394.97 million loss in 4QFY18, despite its 6.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) rise in revenue to RM2.82 billion on the back of a 16% jump in passenger count. Other main factors were higher fuel costs and a stronger US dollar against the ringgit in the period — both of which retreated temporarily in 1Q this year.

    But in 1QFY19, AirAsia will adopt the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards 16 (MFRS16). This accounting practice recognises all lease assets and liabilities, including planes that are currently treated as off balance sheet operating leases.

    With the change, AirAsia’s operating lease expenses — which rose 73% y-o-y to RM1.13 billion in FY18 because of the sale-leaseback model — will be removed from the calculation.

    On the flip side, estimates show that MFRS16 will result in AirAsia’s profit before tax retreating by around RM400 million y-o-y for the whole of FY19. It may also front-load the lease expense of these planes at a depreciation of around RM3.5 billion and interest expense of RM1.1 billion in the same period.

    Fernandes, in his Twitter account, said the adoption of MFRS16 has no impact on the airliner’s cash position, arguing that the non-cash impact is “not very material” at around RM35 million a year.

    CGSCIMB Research, in an April 8 note, estimated that the group would book a net gain of RM174.3 million from the Castlelake deal in its profit and loss statement, with net cash proceeds of around RM891 million.

    Still, AirAsia is set to expand its fleet size from 226 planes in 2018 to 399 units in 2024, as it fully adopts the sale-leaseback structure from this year onwards. With 244 planes this year, AirAsia will book over RM11 billion of lease assets and liabilities on its balance sheet, while net gearing is expected to jump to 1.5 times. Analysts, meanwhile, confirmed that AirAsia management has guided there will be another special dividend this year, although the quantum has yet to be determined.

    AirAsia is committed to pay special dividends every two years. Recall its bumper FY18, which declared total dividends of 64 sen, inclusive of a 40 sen special dividend in 3QFY18, for a total of over RM2.14 billion.

    As at end of last year, AirAsia held cash equivalents of RM3.35 billion. TA Research in a note dated May 9 published its in-house estimate of AirAsia’s FY19 total dividend at 70 sen per share, ahead of the conclusion of the Castlelake deal.

    Others are more conservative until 1QFY19’s results are out. Full-year dividend estimates among analysts covering the stock, according to Bloomberg, average at 15.5 sen. CGSCIMB’s special dividend assumption was trimmed to 13 sen per share, from 19 sen per share previously, after lowering expectations on net cash proceeds from the Castlelake deal.

    Of 17 analyst calls on Bloomberg, AirAsia has seven “buy”, six “hold” and four “sell”. Twelve-month target prices (TPs), which range from RM1.50 to RM5.20, average at RM2.84. Of the total TPs, 35% were below its last close of RM2.45.

    The group, meanwhile, announced on April 26 that it is seeking shareholders’ approval for the proposed share buy-back of up to 10% of its total issued share. The last time it did so was in 2015.

    As in the past, AirAsia’s minority shareholders may approve both the special payout and the share buy-back.

    Beyond 1QFY19, the strengthening of the greenback against the ringgit and rising fuel costs are some of the things to watch out for. Amid strong load factors across its subsidiaries, market competition continues to put pressure on yields.

    In the horizon is the group’s digital venture, which Fernandes appears to be quite stoked about, given the number of his tweets referring to it of late. Come Wednesday, AirAsia could provide a breakdown of its digital businesses, which includes mobile payment app BigPay and one-stop travel platform, AirAsia.com.

    Fernandes told investors as early as March 1 to “look out” for AirAsia’s 1QFY19 results, which will provide a gauge on its operational changes. With its digital venture and changing market movements thrown into the mix, it remains to be seen if the stock will stay a darling among investors in the long run.

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  • AirAsia 3.0 to help save cost and enhance revenue

    AirAsia 3.0 to help save cost and enhance revenue

    After two years of working closely with Google and other data companies, AirAsia expects cost savings and revenue enhancement beginning next year. Group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes told a group of analysts during AirAsia 3.0 investor day that he expected about 4% less fuel burnt after crunching numbers and using the right aircraft for specific routes. With hundreds and hundreds of other fuel initiatives including spare parts, he is looking at 10% to 15% cost savings by the end of 2020.

    All these initiatives to save costs and enhance revenue are part of the airline’s move towards digitization, which also allows it to be creative in its delivery and offering as well as personalize and segmentize its product offerings. This is made possible by analyzing all the data that it has.

    “On the revenue side, with all the rich data we have, we are able to serve customers better in terms of personalizing all that. We have never done promos, as we normally send e-mails, but now we will be much more proactive in filling up the planes.

    “We also now have the ability to dynamically adjust fares on the spot and all this will help us maximize revenue and save costs,’’ he added.

    As part of the AirAsia 3.0 initiative, the plan is to make the entire journey nicer and comfortable for the traveler while various new initiatives will be introduced.

    An analyst said in a report the AirAsia 3.0 plan would solidify the airline’s business via predictive maintenance, which would result in cost savings by FY20. It will enhance the online user experience by transforming AirAsia.com into all-in-one travel and lifestyle marketplace, facilitated by its mobile payment facility BIGPay.

    The carrier’s cargo arm would cover more networks while eliminating the layers in air cargo fulfillment process, the analyst said.

    Another research house said it “does not expect material earnings contribution in the near term from the implementation of the new business platforms.’’

    A foreign brokerage added that “near-term losses from these new initiatives, which are likely to drag already-thin margins in the core airlines business.’’

    AirAsia, according to Fernandes, has come a long way and was the first to revolutionize the way people travel low cost and used the Internet to sell tickets. But that did not come without skepticism and ridicule.

    Eighteen years on, AirAsia is Asia’s largest low-cost carrier that prides on online options to reach out to travelers. It has flown more than 500 million people and has 260 planes on leaseback arrangements to save cost. Ancillary income accounted for 9% of revenue back in 2008 but now it makes up 21%, or RM2bil, of revenue.

    Fernandes still sets sights on China and is working with a new partner to return to Vietnam. He is also bullish that AirAsia’s Indonesian and Philippine operations will be profitable soon.

    AirAsia group is expected to release its first-quarter 2019 results on May 29. A local research house has forecast core net profit of RM147mil (minus 59% year-on-year).

    “Management has done a good job to retain high load factors in first-quarter 2019. However, yields were exceptionally challenging in Malaysia, India, and Thailand due to softer consumer demand and stiffer competition.

    “We are also concerned on the group’s financial year 2019 growth plan to deploy a net addition of 18 aircraft. There has been no aircraft addition in first-quarter 2019, which implies that all the aircraft will be deployed in the subsequent quarters. We deem this as excessive under the current market conditions,” the research house said.

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  • AirAsia Opens Jakarta-Phuket Route

    AirAsia Opens Jakarta-Phuket Route

    “Currently the traveling trend continues to increase especially in the youth market, hence demand to open unique routes is increasing as well,” said AirAsia Indonesia president director Dendy Kurniawan.

    Phuket is one of Thailand’s biggest islands in the southern side and boasts various destinations, such as Phi Phi Island, Big Buddha statue in Chalong and Phuket Old Town. The carrier is currently offering promotional fares from Rp 583,000 (US$40.35) one way that can be booked until May 26 for a travel period between July 2 and Oct. 25.

    Other direct flights served by AirAsia from Thailand to Indonesia are Jakarta-Bangkok, Medan-Bangkok and Denpasar-Bangkok.

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  • Thai AirAsia parent Q1 operating profit halves

    Thai AirAsia parent Q1 operating profit halves

    Revenue for the quarter ended 31 March was flat at Bt11.6 billion, but expenses rose 10% to Bt10.5 billion. Net profit fell 50% to Bt497million. The company says that fuel costs rose during the quarter, as did airport and MRO costs. Despite this, the carrier’s CASK was flat compared with a year ago at Bt1.53 due to a 10% increase in ASKs and a longer average stage length.

    RPKs grew 9%, while load factor was flat at 91%. The carrier’s average fare for the first quarter was Bt1554, down 7%.b Cash and cash equivalents were Bt4.1 billion on 31 March, down from Bt5.97 billion a year earlier.

    In its outlook, the carrier notes that international trade frictions could hurt the global economy and affect exchange rates.

    “As the company has revenues and expenses in various different currencies such as passenger fares, repair, and maintenance as well as aircraft rental, the company has adopted the practice of natural hedging by matching cash expenses and revenues in the same currency as practically possible,” it says.

    It believes that global crude prices could fall in the second half of the year, but has hedged 52% of its 2019 fuel conception at cost of $80 per barrel.

    It adds that Thailand’s tourism industry will remain strong in 2019. It plans to add new routes later this year from Bangkok Don Mueang to new Vietnam destinations such as Can Tho and Nha Trang, as well as the addition of a Chiang Mai-Da Nang service.

    It plans two Cambodia services, Bangkok Don Mueang-Sihanoukville, and Phuket-Phnom Penh. In addition, it will add a Bangkok Don Mueang-Ahmedabad service.

    “This diversified strategy tends to minimize the risk of dependence on the major customer base, enhancing the company and Thai AirAsia’s sustainable revenue growth in the future and maintain its leading low-fare airline in Thailand,” it says.“In 2019, Thai AirAsiamaintains a target of 23.15 million passengers, with a solid load factor at 86%, and plans to acquire more energy efficient aircraft during the year to bring its fleet to 63 aircraft.”

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  • Eraman and AirAsia’s Ourshop.com announce partnership to transform travel retailing in Malaysia

    Eraman and AirAsia’s Ourshop.com announce partnership to transform travel retailing in Malaysia

    Duty-free operator Eraman Malaysia and AirAsia-controlled online retailer Ourshop have entered into a major new partnership. It allows travelers to collect products pre-booked on Ourshop.com at a dedicated pick-up point, located at the Eraman duty-free outlet in klia2 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

    Owned by airport operator Malaysia Airports, Eraman is Malaysia’s largest airport travel retailer. It operates more than 50 shops and F&B outlets at airports including Kuala Lumpur International, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Penang, Langkawi and Labuan.

    Ourshop, launched in July last year, is AirAsia’s online marketplace offering a wide selection of products from duty free, high street and local retailers from across the world.

    The partnership has the added benefit of allowing access to passenger trends and travelers’ departing and arrival destinations, enabling more precise marketing and product selection.

    Travelers purchasing products on ourshop.com can earn AirAsia BIG Points, which can be used to redeem free flights on airasia.com. AirAsia said it was thereby creating a “cycle of value”, as the more miles traveled or items bought, the more travelers earn points.

    AirAsia added that passengers can enjoy the peace of mind that they are purchasing from an official retailer or brand directly, thus removing any doubt of product authenticity that it says has plagued e-commerce traditionally.

    Eraman General Manager Zulhikam Ahmad said his company is thrilled to be part of the Trinity collaboration with parent company Malaysia Airports and Ourshop. “This initiative is very timely as we have just undergone a brand refresh exercise,” he said. “We fully understand that e-commerce is fast becoming significant in the travel retail and duty-free market space.

    “Hence, Eraman is embarking on this journey to ensure we too do not miss out on providing the convenience and keeping up with the trends.”

    Malaysia Airports Senior General Manager Mohammad Nazli Abdul Aziz commented: “The partnership between the nation’s key players in the travel retail industry will undoubtedly elevate the shopping experience for all travelers passing through our doors.

    “This is just a taste of the many exciting activities and initiatives that we have lined up as part of Malaysia Airports’ Commercial Reset strategy.

    “We want to bring excitement and joy to our guests when they are at the airport; and in doing so, we hope to change the traditional perceptions of the airport as a mere hub for connectivity, becoming also a place to enjoy the vast retail offerings available – both at our airports and now digitally.”

    Ourshop General Manager Hassan Choudhury said: “What used to be a 20-minute shopping experience as travelers rush to their boarding gates is now 365 days of shopping indulgence.

    “I want to thank Eraman for exploring this unique online shopping experience for travelers with us. We look forward to sharing incredible success together.”

  • AirAsia named top airline by passenger growth

    AirAsia named top airline by passenger growth

    AirAsia has been named the Top Airline by Absolute Passenger Growth (Southeast Asia) at Singapore’s Changi Airline Awards 2019 recently.

    This is in recognition of its 4.1 per cent increase in passengers carried to and from Singapore to 4.5 million pax recorded in 2018, up from 4.3 million pax the year before, the low-cost carrier said in a statement today.

    It said AirAsia was also adjudged as having the third-highest airline passenger movements overall in 2018, together with Singapore Airlines Group, Jetstar, Cathay Pacific Airways and Lion Group.

    AirAsia Singapore chief executive officer Logan Velaitham said together with Changi Airport Group (CAG), AirAsia has grown Singapore into its third-largest hub, with around 40 flights per day from cities in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

    “As the largest foreign carrier operating into Singapore, we will continue to link new cities and give travellers here more options,” AirAsia said.

    In support of CAG’s growth plans, AirAsia launched its first international route from Ipoh to Singapore in 2018, it said.

    The Changi Airline Awards, now in its 14th year, recognises airlines for their contributions to strengthening and growing Singapore as an aviation hub.

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  • Ex-AirAsia executive joins Malaysia Airports as COO

    Ex-AirAsia executive joins Malaysia Airports as COO

    Malaysia Airport Holdings (MAHB) has appointed former AirAsia executive Mohammed Shukrie Mohammed Salleh as its new chief operating officer.

    MAHB says that Shukrie will oversee strategies related to airport operations, safety and security, as well as planning and development.

    Shukrie was formerly AirAsia Malaysia’s chief operating officer, before moving to the current position.

    It is the second senior leadership appointment at the airport operator in 2019. In January, MAHB appointed its former finance chief Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin as its chief executive.

    On Twitter, AirAsia group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes lauded the move, saying that he was “thrilled” that Shukrie would be joining MAHB.

    “He values partners, can communicate well and is a positive human being and a team player. These are qualities that have been lacking in MAHB so I’m sure with him there now things will improve,” he adds.

    AirAsia and MAHB have been embroiled in a legal spat over passenger service charges and service levels at Kuala Lumpur International airport. MAHB has initiated court action against the budget carrier over unpaid passenger service charges, while the low-cost carrier then responded with a counter-claim against the airport operator and has been pushing for mediation.

    MAHB manages 39 Malaysian airports, including those in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kuching, and Kota Kinabalu.

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  • AirAsia flies to Lanzhou and Quanzhou

    AirAsia flies to Lanzhou and Quanzhou

    AirAsia continues its expansion into China with two new services from Kuala Lumpur to Lanzhou and Quanzhou. These new services take the number of AirAsia destinations in China to 24, firmly cementing the airline’s position as the largest foreign carrier by capacity operating in China with over 400 weekly flights.

    “Malaysia and China are celebrating 45 years of bilateral relations this year. These exclusive direct services from Kuala Lumpur to Lanzhou in the north-west and Quanzhou in the south-east will deliver an additional 280,000 seats per annum to and from China, allowing us to forge even stronger ties between both nations,” said AirAsia X Malaysia CEO Benyamin Ismail.

    AirAsia China CEO Tassapon Bijleveld said: “AirAsia has grown its footprint in China for more than 14 years now, connecting millions of people from Asean to underserved second and third-tier Chinese cities at low fares.

    And China remains a key market for our future growth. Just recently, we launched our new Bangkok-Shenyang service and we continue to review a number of other potential Chinese routes that we hope to be in a position to announce soon.”

    Book all-inclusive AirAsia BIG member fares from as low as RM209 (one-way) to Lanzhou and RM129 (one-way) to Quanzhou on airasia.com or the AirAsia mobile app from now until May 5, 2019, for travel until Sept 30, 2019.

    Enjoy the award-winning premium flatbed to Lanzhou for all-inclusive AirAsia BIG member fares from as low as RM889 (one-way) during the same booking period.

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