AirAsia teases imminent launch of new carrier amid group reorganisation

AirAsia “is close to” launching a new airline unit — with an announcement due in the next two months — amid a broad restructuring of the airline business which sees the appointment of a new independent board of directors. The announcement follows the name change of AirAsia Group to Capital A in late-January to reflect its “new core business strategy as an investment holding company” with wide-ranging interests. As part of the reorganisation, AirAsia’s airline units have been brought under the AirAsia Aviation Group, which will allow it to “focus expansion of the business within the larger ecosystem”. Asked by FlightGlobal for further details on the new airline unit, Group A chief Tony Fernandes was tight-lipped, except to say that AirAsia Aviation Group was “very focused on ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), and that the group was “back on the growth trail”. “In due course, we will announce it. I think it will be within the next two months,” he adds. The low-cost airline group has units in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, as well as the Philippines. It also has a joint venture in India. It was previously reported that the airline group was looking at Cambodia as a prospective market, and had been toying for more than a year with the idea of launching a new airline in the Indochina region. <br/>