The budget airline is seeing growth in domestic flights which should replace its China’s market business, says CEO 

by ANIS HAZIM / Pic by BERNAMA

CAPITAL A Bhd, formerly known as AirAsia Group Bhd, foresees full pre-Covid-19 recovery by the fourth quarter (4Q22) underpinned by demand from the South-East Asia region. 

Its CEO Tan Sri Dr Tony Fernandes (picture) said the budget airline is seeing growth in domestic flights which should replace its China’s market business. 

“Everyone knows for sure that China won’t open up by the 4Q. India has a huge opportunity for us as well. But we will still continue to push into Asean. 

“So, we do feel that all our planes will be back in service by the 4Q, with or without China. But if China comes in, that is a huge bonus. We are anticipating that China will not be fully open but we can cover that with other territories,” Fernandes told a virtual media briefing last Friday. 

He said the company received overwhelming passengers from Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, which posed a positive for Capital A. 

In the briefing, Fernandes touched on the major changes at the group’s aviation business. 

He announced the appointment of veteran telecommunications executive Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim as the independent non-executive chairman of AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd (AAAGL), the holding company for the airline group previously known as AirAsia Aviation Ltd (AAAL). 

Jamaludin, currently chairman of Prasarana Malaysia Bhd and QSR Brands (M) Holdings Bhd, was CEO of Axiata Group Bhd until December 2020. Prior to that, he was CEO of Maxis Communications Bhd for a decade. 

Jamaluddin will lead a fresh board of directors to steer the direction of AAAGL. 

Under the new structure, AAAGL will oversee all airlines in Capital A, as well as related international support functions including AirAsia Consulting, shared corporate services division AirAsia SEA Sdn Bhd, the Santan food group and the ground handling services joint venture business called GTR.

On the competition from new airlines, both in Malaysia and Indonesia, Fernandes said in the briefing that Capital A is worry-free as it will focus on what the company has to offer. 

“We are not overly concerned about competition. That is up to regulators to decide whether they need enough airlines or need new airlines,” he said. 

In the same statement, AAAGL group CEO Bo Lingam said the rationale for these structural changes is to provide a separate, robust and lean platform for the airline operations supporting Capital A’s continued focus to become more than just an airline. 

“AAAGL now holds our existing airline investments and paves the way for new airline ventures to be formed in due course,” he said. 

He said the group has recently established the AirAsia Consulting company tasked at reviewing new airline partnerships, franchise opportunities and providing airline consulting services to not only AirAsia airlines but also to other airlines. 

“AAAGL will become one of the key pillars under Capital A, alongside the new digital businesses and aircraft engineering company, Asia Digital Engineering (ADE) which is also preparing to announce a new board of directors in the near future, as a separate entity to AAAGL,” he said. 

Capital A shares closed half a sen higher at 67 on Friday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM2.79 billion.