AirAsia is grounding of most of its fleet due to “extensive and increasing border restrictions.” The Malaysian group originally planned to offer more than 9 million seats across its network during April.
Is mainland China set to become the principal battleground for AirAsia as the low-cost carrier sets its sights on growing its presence across booming north Asia? We investigate the rise of the low-cost airline group and how it is tweaking its strategy to support growth in new markets and the maturity of its existing network.
AirAsia has signed a firm order with Airbus for the purchase of 100 A321neo aircraft, its first order for the largest model of the A320 Family. Seating up to 236 passengers in a single class layout, the A321neo will enable the airline to increase capacity versus its current A320 fleet while benefitting from the lowest operating costs in the single aisle category.
As air service development professionals were debating the impact of ASEAN open skies during Routes Asia and the general potential hailing from the rising middle class in Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand and a thriving economy with an overall community of over 630 million people, Tony Fernandes, founder and head of the AirAsia Group was firmly placing his support behind the regional economic integration.
Routes Asia has opened in Manila, Philippines with renewed calls for regulators and airports to address infrastructure issues in the region with senior executives of some of the region’s fastest-growing airlines highlighting it as one of the biggest issues still impacting growth and development in the region.
