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AirAsia Berhad (MYX: 5099) is a Malaysian-based low-cost airline. AirAsia is Asia's largest low-fare, no-frills airline and a pioneer of low-cost travel in Asia.[3] AirAsia group operates scheduled domestic and international flights to over 400 destinations spanning 25 countries. Its main hub is the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Its affiliate airlines Thai AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia have hubs in Suvarnabhumi Airport and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport respectively. AirAsia's registered office is in Petaling Jaya, Selangor while its head office is located in Kuala Lumpur International Airport.[4][5] Air Asia plans to open ASEAN regional headquarters in Jakarta by August or September 2011.[6] The airline itself will maintain its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur for the time being.[7]
AirAsia won the Skytrax World's best low-cost airline award in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011.[8] It has the world's lowest operating costs at $0.035/seat-kilometre in 2010.[9] It is also the first airline in the region to implement fully ticketless air travel system.
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AirAsia was established in 1993 and commenced operations on 18 November 1996. It was originally founded by a government-owned conglomerate DRB-Hicom. On 2 December 2001, the heavily-indebted airline was purchased by former Time Warner executive Tony Fernandes's company Tune Air Sdn Bhd for the token sum of one ringgit (about $USD0.26 at the time) with USD$11 million (RM40 million) worth of debts. Fernandes proceeded to engineer a remarkable turnaround, turning a profit in 2002 and launching new routes from its hub in Kuala Lumpur International Airport at breakneck speed, undercutting former monopoly operator Malaysia Airlines with promotional fares as low as RM1 (US$0.27).
In 2003, AirAsia opened a second hub at Senai International Airport in Johor Bahru near Singapore and launched its first international flight to Bangkok. AirAsia has since started a Thai subsidiary, added Singapore itself to the destination list, and commenced flights to Indonesia. Flights to Macau started in June 2004, while flights to Mainland China (Xiamen) and the Philippines (Manila) started in April 2005. Flights to Vietnam and Cambodia followed later in 2005 and to Brunei and Myanmar in 2006, the latter by Thai AirAsia.
On August 2006, AirAsia took over Malaysia Airlines's Rural Air Service routes in Sabah and Sarawak, operating under the FlyAsianXpress brand, the routes were subsequently returned to MASwings a year later citing commercial reasons. AirAsia's CEO Tony Fernandes subsequently unveiled a five-year plan to further enhance its presence in Asia.[10] In the plan, AirAsia will strengthen and enhance its route network by connecting all the existing cities in the region and expanding further into Indochina, Indonesia, Southern China (Kun Ming, Xiamen, Shenzen) and India. The airline will focus on developing its hubs in Bangkok and Jakarta through its sister companies, Thai AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia. Hence, with increase frequency and addition of new routes, AirAsia expects passenger volume to hit 18 million by end-2007.
On 27 September 2008, has on its list 106 new routes to be added to its current list of 60 over the next few years. The number of old routes discontinued has not been publicly disclosed.[11]
AirAsia operates with the world’s lowest unit cost of US$0.023/ASK and a passenger break-even load factor of 52%. It has hedged 100% of its fuel requirements for the next three years, achieves an aircraft turnaround time of 25 minutes, has a crew productivity level that is triple that of Malaysia Airlines and achieves an average aircraft utilisation rate of 13 hours a day.[12]
All scheduled AirAsia departures out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport are operated via the Low Cost Carrier Terminal. AirAsia had abolished its fuel surcharges on November 2008,[13] but due to the rising oil price, the fuel-surcharge has been re-introduced in May 2011.[14]
In 2007 a passengers from 'The Barrier-Free Environment and Accessible Transport Group' protested against the airline for its refusal to fly passengers who were completely immobile.[15] They claimed that the disabled were discriminated against when booking tickets online; the CEO of the airline denied that the airline turned away wheelchair-using passengers.[16]
Thai AirAsia (Thai: ไทยแอร์เอเชีย) was established on 8 December 2003 as joint venture with Shin Corporation. Flight operations commenced on 13 January 2004 from its base in Don Mueang International Airport. Since 25 September 2006, the airline is based at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport.
AirAsia (Indonesian: Maskapai AirAsia) acquired the then defunct Awair in 2004 with a 49% stake in the airline. Awair commenced services on behalf of AirAsia in December 2004; full rebranding to Indonesia AirAsia was completed on 1 December 2005. The airline is based at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport with a secondary hub at Ngurah Rai International Airport
In February 2010, AirAsia announced that it had purchased a 30% stake in VietJet and changed the name to VietJet AirAsia. VietJet AirAsia is based in Hanoi, and planned to fly to Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. The plan was later aborted due to the fact that the airline had fail to reach an agreement with the Vietnamese government. [17]
The Philippines' Board of Investment approved AirAsia's joint venture application on December 7, 2010. The Philippine affiliate is expected to commence commercial flights on September 1, 2011[18][19][20][21] in partnership with Philippine businessman Antonio Cojuangco.[22] The airline will set Diosdado Macapagal International Airport[23] as its main Filipino hub.
On July 21, 2011, AirAsia announced that they had agreed on a Joint-Venture with All Nippon Airways for the creation of AirAsia Japan.[24][25] The airline is to be based at Narita International Airport, the company will be formed on August 2011, and they will also began applying for Air Operators Certificate (AOC) either in September or October of the same year. First flight is expected in August 2012.
AirAsia X is an associate company that offers long-haul services from Kuala Lumpur to Australia, China, France, India, Iran (Tehran), Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan (Taipei), and the United Kingdom (Gatwick) using the Airbus A330-200, A330-300, A340-300 and in the future the A350-900.
AirAsia currently operates more than 142 routes[26] to 78 destinations,[27] with over 400 daily flights[28][29][30][31][32] covering Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand and with domestic and international routes, primarily from Kuala Lumpur, to Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, France, Iran, India, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.
The total AirAsia fleet (excluding Thai AirAsia, AirAsia X and Indonesia AirAsia) consists of the following aircraft as of 20 February 2010:
| Aircraft | In fleet | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A320-200 | 56 | 180 | ||||
| Airbus A320neo | 0 | 200[33] |
|
enter into service:2016 | ||
| Total | 54 | 200 | ||||
Future A320 deliveries[34]
| Year | Number of Aircraft |
|---|---|
| 2011 | 8[35] |
| 2012 | 24 |
| 2013 | 24 |
| 2014 | 24 |
| 2015 | 9[35] |
AirAsia began a gradual conversion of its fleet from the Boeing 737–300 to the Airbus A320-200, with the first order made for 40 Airbus A320 aircraft and 40 more on option in a Memorandum of Understanding made in 17 December 2004. When the contract was signed on 25 March 2005, the order was increased to 60 firm orders with 40 on option.[36] The first six Airbus A320s were delivered on 9 December 2005, with the remaining 54 aircraft from the 2005 order to be delivered by June 2009.[37]
On 19 July 2006, the airline exercised the options of 40 Airbus A320-200s to increase its total firm orders to 100 aircraft, with another 30 on option.[38] It made a third order of 50 firm A320-200s and increased the options to 50 on 8 January 2007, with delivery expected to be completed by December 2013. The Airbus A320-200 was expected to completely replace the Boeing 737–300 fleet at the Kuala Lumpur base by July 2007.[39] The airline made its latest order of 25 firm orders on 25 November 2007, bringing its total orders of Airbus aircraft to 175 with 50 on option.[40][41]
In August 2009, AirAsia had signed an amendment agreement with Airbus to defer the delivery dates for 8 of its A320s aircraft by four years to 2014 due to "infrastructural constraints" at the existing low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) in Sepang as it cannot accommodate its fleet expansion. The rationale to scale down on the delivery of aircraft in 2010 and possibly 2011 is to enable AirAsia to optimize its fleet and avoid the costs associated with leaving idle or under- utilized aircraft due to infrastructural limitations, avoiding having to incur depreciation, interest expense and other costs without earning revenue. The infrastructural constraints will continue at the current airport until the new low-cost carrier terminal is constructed. Earlier In February 2009 the Malaysia's government vetoed an ambitious plan by AirAsia to build a $460 million airport nearby as KLIA East @ Labu.[42][43]
In June 2011 AirAsia ordered 200 Airbus A320neos at the Paris Air Show.[44][45] The planes are due to become available in 2015, and the deal is one of the largest number of commercial aircraft in a single order in history.[44] The deal was worth $18 billion at list prices, although it is likely that AirAsia would have obtained a substantial discount from those prices.[45] Singapore based analyst Shukor Yusof said the deal had the potential to rival American Southwest Airlines and make Air Asia the world's biggest low cost aircraft carrier.[45][46] The deal makes AirAsia Airbus' single biggest customer.[46]
AirAsia offers "Snack Attack," a buy on board programme offering food and drinks for purchase.[47] Air Asia is accredited by the KL Syariah Index, and as per Shariah law it does not serve alcohol or pork. However, this is only applicable on the regional AirAsia group flights, and not applicable to the AirAsia X flight as it does sell wine and beer on board.[48]
AirAsia is taking the first steps towards starting its own frequent-flyer program. The airline has signed an agreement to start a joint venture with financial services firm Tune Money to launch a programme called "BIG". Through this programme, it will issue loyalty points to AirAsia customers and third party merchants. These points can then be collected and used to redeem AirAsia flights.[49]
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