AirAsia chief Fernandes sees ‘robust’ rebound in demand

AirAsia CE Tony Fernandes has highlighted “encouraging” forward bookings and sales as the low-cost carrier seeks to recover from the impact of the coronavirus crisis. “There was a point where you couldn’t see where the light was going to come from,” Fernandes said – but now, “robust demand is coming back.” The carrier hopes to operate roughly 50% of pre-Covid-19 capacity by the beginning of July. Fernandes believes passenger demand could return to 2019 levels by the end of 2021, although he stresses that this is a “guesstimate.” Despite this confidence, the budget carrier is securing three different tranches of liquidity to shore up its position. “As a defensive we’re raising as much capital as we can,” says Fernandes. The main question in the short term is how quickly governments in the region are willing to open their borders given the risk of spreading infection. Over a slightly longer timeframe, AirAsia believes its position as the lowest-cost provider in the region should allow it to benefit from the post-pandemic economic landscape, as customers seek out the cheapest options. Benefits will also, the airline expects, arise from having passengers who tend to be younger than those of legacy carriers, and therefore less likely to be concerned about infection, and from a lower proportion of business travellers.<br/>