Tag Archives: AirAsia (Malaysia)

Financial Times: AirAsia CEO pledges to prove that airline critics are wrong

AirAsia (Malaysia) (Kuala Lumpur) CEO Tony Fernandes (below) is fighting a critical report by the independent research firm GMT. The report, according to this story by The Financial Times, states the airline is “teetering on default”.

Above Photo: AirAsia. Time Magazine previously proclaimed CEO Tony Fernandes as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the World.

This interesting read also explains the intricate financing of the group and lays out in a graph how the group is owned and financed.

This story is recommended.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Photo Above: AirAsia. AirAsia in 2014 partnered with U.S. singer Taylor Swift and became the official airline for her Red Tour in Asia.

Top Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. In conjunction with the 2014 Red Tour, AirAsia decorated this Airbus A320-216 9M-AHM (msn 3536) with the image of Taylor Swift.

AirAsia aircraft slide show:

AirAsia X firms up its order for 55 Airbus A330-900neo aircraft

AirAsia X (AirAsia.com) (Kuala Lumpur), the long haul affiliate of AirAsia (AirAsia.com) (Malaysia) (Kuala Lumpur), has placed a firm order with Airbus for 55 A330neo aircraft. This is the largest single order to date for the A330 Family and reaffirms AirAsia X’s position as the biggest A330 airline customer worldwide, having now ordered a total of 91 aircraft. The announcement covers the firming up of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for 50 A330neo signed during the Farnborough Air Show in July 2014, plus an additional five aircraft. Deliveries of the newly-ordered aircraft will begin in 2018.

The A330neo will incorporate latest generation Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, aerodynamic enhancements and new cabin features.

Image: Airbus. A conception image of the A330-900neo.

AirAsia X aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Asia-1/Airlines-Asia1-AE/AirAsia-X-AirAsiacom

Is AirAsia considering an investment in Skymark Airlines?

Skymark Airlines (Tokyo-Haneda) has been retrenching. Besides the cancellation of its Airbus A380 order by Airbus, the low-fare carrier has also announced it will leave Tokyo Narita and concentrate its flights at Tokyo (Haneda). Now according to ZipanguFlyer, there may be a new development:

“On August 19, the Nikkei Shimbun reported that the AirAsia Group has started considering an investment in ailing Skymark Airlines (BC/SKY), including a possible takeover. It said that the Malaysian LCC, a very important customer for Airbus, is also talking with the European manufacturer to reduce the penalties they are seeking with Skymark for the canceled Airbus A380 order.”

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

AirAsia is currently working with new Japanese partners to launch the second version of AirAsia (Japan) next year. If this report is correct and it is consummated, it would probably be the end of Skymark Airlines and Boeing would lose a loyal Japanese customer.

Stay tuned.

Copyright Photo: Ivan K. Nishimura/Blue Wave Group. Boeing 737-81D JA73NN (man 39422) passes through Honolulu on its delivery flight.

Skymark Airlines:

AirAsia Japan to be relaunched in 2015

AirAsia (AirAsia.com) (Malaysia) (Kuala Lumpur) has announced the second launch of AirAsia Japan (2nd). The low-fare Malaysian airline issued this statement today (July 1). Operations are due to start in mid 2015. Here is the full statement:

AirAsia today (July 1) announced that it will be entering into a Shareholders Agreement with Octave Japan Infrastructure Fund I GK (Octave), Rakuten Inc. (Rakuten), Noevir Holdings Co. Ltd. (Noevir), and Alpen Co. Ltd. (Alpen) to establish AirAsia Japan.

Tony Fernandes (center above), Group Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia said, “We are very excited to return to Japan’s skies together with Octave, Rakuten, Noevir and Alpen this time round. I am more confident than ever that AirAsia Japan, led by Odi (Odagiri Yoshinori) with the strong partnership we have with our new investors, will continue to realize our vision to revolutionize the low-cost carrier segment of Japan. The AirAsia Japan team is now working hard with the relevant authorities to obtain necessary operational approvals, and we hope that all will be in place to start both domestic and international flights by the summer of 2015.”

Odagiri Yoshinori, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia Japan further commented, “We are ready to take on this challenge and with great teamwork, we hope to bring AirAsia’s successful low-cost business model once again to Japan. Our counterparts in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and India have seen great and encouraging responses in their markets, and we will work towards the same for Japan. We would like to thank the investors for their belief in us and we look forward to working closely with them moving forward.”

Octave was incorporated in Japan on May 2014 and its major business is to acquire, own, manage, hold, sell, and dispose of the shares of AirAsia Japan and make collections from the shares of AirAsia Japan; while Rakuten was incorporated in Japan on February 1997 and its major business includes Internet services (e-commerce, travel), financial services (bank, credit card, securities. etc), telecommunications and professional sports.

Noevir, which was incorporated in Japan on March 2011 and its major business includes cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and health food, apparel and aviation business. Alpen was incorporated in Japan on July 1972 and its major business includes manufacturing and retail of ski equipment, other sporting goods equipment including golf, tennis, marine sports, baseball, etc. and leisure goods; management of ski resorts, golf courses and fitness clubs.

Read the full story from ZipanguFlyer: CLICK HERE

Read the analysis by Bloomberg Businessweek: CLICK HERE

AirAsia (Japan) (1st):

AirAsia (Malaysia):

AirAsia to unveil a Taylor Swift logo jet in June, net profit for 2013 falls, AirAsia India moves ahead

AirAsia (Malaysia) (Kuala Lumpur) according to Reuters, saw its fourth-quarter profit drop by 19 percent on higher expenses for fuel and aircraft maintenance.

Net profit for the three months ending on December 31, 2013 fell to 245.4 million ringgit ($75.05 million), while net profit for the full year of 2013 was 364.1 million ringgit ($111.4 million) compared to 789.6 million ringgit ($241.5 million) in 2012 due to the prior year’s gain from the disposal of its shares in Thai AirAsia joint venture.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Meanwhile, AirAsia India (Madras-Chennai) (above), the new joint venture with the Tata Group moves ahead. The DGCA has rejected the objections of other Indian airlines that new joint venture would disrupt Indian airline industry “equilibrium” according to The Economic Times.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

In other news, AirAsia announced that it will be the official airline for seven-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift’s The Red Tour presented by Cornetto, which will be coming to southeast Asia this year. Taylor Swift will be bringing her tour to Southeast Asia in June 2014, with shows in Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

As the official airline for Taylor Swift’s The Red Tour presented by Cornetto, AirAsia will unveil an exclusive Airbus A320 aircraft livery featuring international superstar Taylor Swift.

Siegtraund Teh, Group Chief Commercial Officer for AirAsia said, “We are very proud to be the official airline for Taylor Swift’s tour in Southeast Asia, which is aptly named The Red Tour, synonymous with AirAsia’s corporate colors. With AirAsia’s strong route network in Asia, especially in Asean, we are definitely the best people to connect Taylor and her crew to all of her tour destinations. Taylor Swift fans can look forward to spotting the special Taylor Swift branded Airbus A320 painting the skies of Asean Red this coming June.”

“We’ve always taken branding to a different level at AirAsia and this opportunity to work with Taylor and her team marks yet another milestone for us as we continue to build the AirAsia brand globally. We will be running contests across our network, which will surely be a treat to all of her fans.” Siegtraund Teh added.

Taylor’s The Red Tour performance features two stages, elaborate costumes, dancers, and changing sets. Taylor moves around the venue, giving every audience member a great seat. Taylor plays electric guitar, banjo, piano and acoustic guitar and changes costumes multiple times over the course of the evening. Her set features several songs from her record-breaking RED album, as well as new takes on other fan favorites.

Taylor Swift, who writes all of her own songs, is a seven-time Grammy winner, and is the youngest winner in history of the music industry’s highest honor, the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. She is the #1 digital music artist of all time, the only female artist in music history (and just the fourth artist ever) to twice have an album hit the 1 million first-week sales figure, and is the first artist since the Beatles (and the only female artist in history) to log six or more weeks at #1 with three consecutive studio albums. Taylor has an album on Rolling Stone’s prestigious The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time (by women) list, Time magazine has named her one of the 100 Most Influential people in the world, and she is Billboard’s youngest-ever Woman of the Year. Taylor, who is signed to Big Machine Records, has career record sales in excess of 26 million albums and 75 million song downloads worldwide, and has had singles top both the country and pop radio charts around the globe.

Copyright Photo: Eurospot/AirlinersGallery.com. The first Airbus A320 for AirAsia India is now painted at Toulouse. Wearing a test registration of F-WWBV (msn 6015), the pictured A320-216 with Sharklets will become VT-AIF on delivery.

AirAsia (Malaysia):

Grounded Zest Air is now AirAsia Zest following an investment by AirAsia

Zest Air (Zest Airways) (Manila) has rebranded as AirAsia Zest (AirAsia Zest Airways, Inc., formerly Asian Spirit) following the investment of AirAsia (Malaysia) (Kuala Lumpur) through AirAsia Philippines (Clark).

In other related news, AirAsia Philippines will be temporarily suspending flights to Davao, Kalibo, Taipei and Hong Kong from Clark International Airport effective on October 9, 2013.

Flights between Clark and Hong Kong, however, will continue to operate from December 20, 2013 until January 6, 2014 to cater to the strong holiday demand.

Maan Hontiveros, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia Philippines said, “The temporary suspension is primarily to manage costs following the recent grounding of Zest Air by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP). This has affected many factors and allocating necessary resources such as aircraft and crew is critical to ensure its recovery.”

“Right now we need to focus our resources to support Zest Air where we have significant economic interest, and we believe in Zest Air’s potential with their Manila based operations,” added Hontiveros.

AirAsia Philippines holds a 49 percent share in Zest Air, a low-cost carrier operating in Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Manila; and Zest Air will be carrying the AirAsia brand once it is approved by the CAAP.

Read the full story from Business World Online: CLICK HERE

Zest Air:

All images by AirAsia Zest.

AirAsia Japan to be shut down on October 31

AirAsia Japan (Tokyo-Narita) will cease all scheduled services on October 31, 2013. ANA has decided it will not merge the joint venture with Peach Aviation. The airline started operations on August 1, 2012.

All four Airbus A320s will be returned to AirAsia (Malaysia) the following day.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-216 JA01AJ (msn 5153) approaches the Tokyo (Narita) hub.

AirAsia (Japan):

Route Map:

ANA to buy out AirAsia’s share of AirAsia Japan, the joint venture to be dissolved

ANA Holdings Inc (ANA-All Nippon Airways) (Tokyo) according to Reuters, will buy out AirAsia’s (Malaysia) (Kuala Lumpur) portion of AirAsia Japan (Tokyo-Narita) joint venture for over $25 million. The loss-making entity will be dissolved. AirAsia Japan commenced operations only on August 1, 2012. ANA controls 67 percent of the shares.

ANA is considering its options. The joint venture could be rolled into Peach Aviation.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

AirAsia (Japan):

Top Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. The AirAsia brand will soon die in Japan. The concept is just not working despite the recent SkyTrax 2013 Awards (below, AirAsia Japan). Airbus A320-216 JA01AJ (msn 5153) arrives at the Narita base.

India to review the AirAsia-Tata joint venture proposal on March 6

AirAsia (AirAsia.com) (Malaysia) (Kuala Lumpur) and the Tata Group (Mumbai) have announced a new joint venture proposal. If approved by the Indian government the new JV would bring a new low-fare airline to India under the AirAsia brand based in Chennai.

According to this report by One India News the Indian Finance Ministry is due to take up the proposal before the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on March 6.

AirAsia has applied to control 49 percent in this new joint venture with Tata Sons Ltd and Arun Bhatia’s Telestra Tradeplace Pvt Ltd. If approved, this will be the return of Tata to the aviation business. State-owned Air India grew out of Tata Airlines, which began operations in 1932. Ironically Air India (Mumbai) and other Indian carriers are likely to oppose the entry of AirAsia.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Guillaume Besnard. AirAsia’s Airbus A320-216 9M-AFQ (msn 3018) in the special ZOOM! color scheme arrives at Bangkok.

AirAsia (Malaysia):

AirAsia becomes the first operator of Airbus’ Sharklet equipped A320

AirAsia (AirAsia.com) (Malaysia) (Kuala Lumpur) yesterday (December 21) received its first Airbus A320-200 with the new Sharklets winglet. The pictured A320-216 F-WWIC (msn 5428) became 9M-AQQ on the handover. 9M-AQQ is also painted in the new 2012 livery for AirAsia. It becomes the first A320 with Sharklets to enter revenue service. Airbus issued the following statement:

Airbus has delivered the first A320 equipped with Sharklets to AirAsia, which becomes the first operator of the new fuel-saving large wing tip devices. Sharklets are an option on new-build A320 Family aircraft, and are standard on all members of the A320neo Family.

Sharklets are made from light-weight composites and are 2.4 meters tall. These newly designed wing-tip devices reduce fuel burn and emissions by improving the aerodynamics of the aircraft significantly. Cutting airlines’ fuel bills by around four percent, Sharklets will offer the flexibility to A320 Family operators of either adding around 100 nautical miles more range or allowing increased payload capability of up to 450 kilograms.

“We are extremely proud to be the first airline in the world to take delivery of an A320 fitted with Airbus’ new, fuel saving Sharklets,” said Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Group Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia . “AirAsia has a long-standing, special relationship with Airbus and as we grow our network with our all A320 fleet, these new wing tip devices will contribute to fulfilling our goal of being the most efficient, innovative low cost airline in the world.”

“As our biggest A320 Family airline customer, it’s very fitting that AirAsia is the first carrier to benefit from the four percent fuel saving our new Sharklets deliver,” said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers. “AirAsia’s vision is to make is possible for everyone to fly and now with their Sharklet-equipped A320s they can assure their passengers that they are also travelling on board the world’s most environmentally friendly single-aisle aircraft.”

Due to the very strong customer demand for Sharklets, all Airbus’ single-aisle final assembly lines (FALs) will be engaged in building A320 Family aircraft with Sharklets. These FALs are located in Toulouse (France), Hamburg (Germany) and Tianjin (China) and will soon be followed by an additional A320 FAL in Mobile (Alabama, USA).

AirAsia, the largest low cost airline in Asia is also Airbus’ largest A320 Family airline customer. The carrier recently placed a new order with Airbus on the 13th December 2012 for 100 more A320 Family aircraft including 36 A320ceo aircraft with Sharklets. Altogether, AirAsia has ordered 475 single aisle aircraft from Airbus, comprising 264 A320neo and 211 A320ceo. Over 100 aircraft have already been delivered to the airline and are flying out of its bases in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila and Tokyo.

AirAsia: