The new service seeks to provide greater convenience, more competitive prices and better income opportunities for drivers

by SHAFIQQUL ALIFF  / Pic Source: airasia travels Facebook

AIRASIA Group Bhd has launched its new e-hailing services arm, AirAsia Ride, that will be rolling out in Klang Valley and expand to more cities in the country throughout the year.

AirAsia Super App CEO Amanda Woo said AirAsia Ride aims to empower people to move around more easily, making full use of the super app technology for seamless experiences.

The AirAsia Ride platform, which is parked under the group’s super app, seeks to provide greater convenience, more competitive prices and better income opportunities for drivers.

“AirAsia Ride inherits the DNA of running a low-cost model, which enables savings to be passed on to guests and strives to offer the lowest fares on the road, introducing great value to the highly competitive e-hailing ecosystem.

“The app will leverage the data the company has collected in the past 20 years to offer a complete user experience to its passengers — pre-flight, during flight and post-flight,” Woo said at the virtual launch yesterday.

AirAsia Ride has about 1,500 registered drivers at present and expects an additional 5,000 to come on board in the next six months as it expands nationwide.

Woo said the latest digital offering of AirAsia Ride is part of the company’s continuous digital transformation journey to develop an Asean’s top super app with regional expansion into Thailand and Indonesia on the cards.

She said AirAsia Ride could be integrated with the group’s logistics arm, Teleport Commerce Malaysia Sdn Bhd, to complement the logistics and delivery services.

“Another exciting product innovation in the pipeline is a partnership with electric vehicles to spearhead the drive for sustainability in mobility for Asean,” she added.

AirAsia Group CEO Tan Sri Dr Tony Fernandes said the development of AirAsia Ride has been an exciting journey and the company aims to launch AirAsia Express soon to complete the delivery aspect of its super app. He said AirAsia Ride focuses on moving people and packages while it supplements the riders with greater reach.

“The super app will be very strong in the airports and in the tourism markets as people who like our ecosystem will begin to use the app,” Fernandes said.

He said AirAsia travel would eventually be renamed to Go Away, the company’s answer to online ticketing and hotel booking services platforms such as Expedia and Traveloka.

He also said the group has plans to make foray into education and health segments in the future.