AirAsia to Add 30 Jets to Affiliates in 2018

24th Jan 2018

Malaysian-based airline group AirAsia Berhad will add around 30 new jets to its affiliates across Asia this year to help them cope with the strong demand across the region, said its Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes.

Speaking to the reporters during the World Economic Forum in Davos Fernandes said:

We’ve been able to get the Philippines and Indonesia really rocking, turning them into little gems. Demand is good, the ancillary model is doing well and our JV business using our data has started moving.

He also said that the board at AirAsia India approved plans to start an initial public offering (IPO) and has appointed bankers. AirAsia India is a joint venture (JV) between AirAsia Group and Tata Group.

Fernandes also responded to the possibility of taking part in the planned privatisation of state-owned Air India following the Indian government’s announcement that it will allow foreign investors to step in.

He said, denying that AirAsia will be involved in Air India privatisation:

India is going to be a real nice surprise for AirAsia. We know what we are good at - low cost. Air India is a great airline, but it is really not our business model and not something that we would be involved in.

At the moment, AirAsia, which has airlines in Malaysia, India, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, with further plans to expand its reach in China and Vietnam, has around 200 aircraft in its entire fleet across the main airline Malaysia AirAsia and its affiliate carriers across Asia.

Fernandes also said that AirAsia does not plan to bring forward deliveries, even though the demand has been strong recently. There are plans of ordering additional planes. However, according to the AirAsia CEO, this will happen “eventually, but not at present”.

AirAsia is one of the biggest customers of Airbus, being its number one operator of Airbus A320 jets, the manufacturer’s top-selling aircraft. However, according to some industry experts, Boeing is looking to replace Airbus and bring AirAsia as its customer. Its 787 would, experts say, work well for the airline’s planned long-haul operations.