AirAsia parent upbeat on prospects

With airfares surging 30% post-pandemic, AirAsia Group says it will not hike its fares to maintain affordability for the mass market, while it seeks to add routes on other continents by utilising long-range single-aisle jets.
“We survived a five-year downturn related to the pandemic, losing about US$10 billion with 200 planes grounded during that time. This year we have recovered somewhat, with our fleet at 91% of the 2019 level,” said Tony Fernandes, chief executive of Capital A, the parent company of AirAsia.
“From 2025 we hope to grow, with Airbus committing to feed us new jets, while 2026 could be the best ever year for the group.”
According to AirAsia’s expansion plan, the company expects to take delivery of 34 aircraft from its orderbook, with 10 coming from a lessor’s orderbook over the next three years.
Adding 15 Airbus A321XLR Neos would allow AirAsia to have longer flight hours, tapping new routes such as Almaty in Kazakhstan.
Malaysia’s AirAsia X completed its inaugural flight to Almaty in March earlier this year.
AirAsia serves 92 destinations and wants to add more long-distance direct flights, which airlines in Asia rarely do, targeting East and North Africa, areas that are within range of the new aircraft, said Mr Fernandes.
He said countries in the pipeline include Kenya, Tanzania, Tunisia, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.
For Thailand, Mr Fernandes said the long-range aircraft can connect to popular destinations such as Phuket for all cities in China, opening up new markets.
While the post-pandemic aviation market is still competitive, particularly in Thailand, AirAsia Group has an advantage over rivals because of its firm orderbook with Airbus, he said.
“If someone wanted to set up a new airline now, it would have to wait until 2030 at the earliest to take delivery from aircraft manufacturers,” said Mr Fernandes.
“We’re set to have 200 aircraft with our seven airlines by early next year.”
In the future, the majority of its fleet of 361 jets will continue to comprise Airbus A321Neos, with 20 wide-body Airbus A330s suitable for serving new routes in Europe, he said.
Capital A is restructuring, selling the seven airlines under AirAsia to AirAsia X Berhad, to be transformed into AirAsia Group at a later stage.
Mr Fernandes said AirAsia X Berhad is scheduled to hold an extraordinary general meeting on Oct 16 for shareholders to vote on the proposed acquisitions.
As its two Malaysian units, AirAsia and AirAsia X, are preparing to merge into a single airline for greater efficiency in terms of routes and fleet management, he said such a merger would not immediately be applied to Thai AirAsia and Thai AirAsia X as the latter must first exit a rehabilitation plan.
Revenue from Thailand represents roughly 30% of Capital A’s overall revenue, with the company eager to grow this portion further via the aviation business and other related investments.
ADE, one of its affiliate businesses, is planning a new maintenance, repair and overhaul operation in the Eastern Economic Corridor, with a capacity of 8-10 lines.