AirAsia eyes ‘local airline presence’ in IndoChina as domestic markets recover

AirAsia Group is exploring options for an airline presence in IndoChina after narrowing losses in its latest financial results and optimism of strong domestic rebound in the markets it serves. In the group’s financial results for the quarter ended 30 September, AirAsia Group president for airlines Bo Lingam states: “[We] are also actively exploring opportunities for a local airline presence in IndoChina.” He did not provide further details, including where it might be based. IndoChina comprises Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. A new carrier, if created, would be the group’s sixth unit in Asia — after Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, as well as India. AirAsia Group though has just shuttered operations in Japan, as a result of what it called a “highly challenging operating market”, and said earlier in the month that it was reviewing its investment in the Indian unit. Lingam notes that the group’s carriers have seen strong domestic recovery in the third quarter of the year, and that the group is “prepared to maintain sustainable operations solely on the back of our domestic sectors into 2021”, even as it remains hopeful for international travel restrictions to be lifted. <br/>