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AirAsia Group eyes Cambodia with brand new airline venture
AirAsia Group is looking to Cambodia for potential expansion of its airline business, according to Bo Lingam, head of its new AirAsia Aviation Ltd holding company.
AirAsia Aviation will combine its four airlines in Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia as part of a group-wide business reorganisation to differentiate between its airline business and the move into digital ventures such as deliveries.
“We will continue to review new markets to operate from in the future, like Cambodia for example, when we can connect [Southeast Asia] once again with the best value fares and lifestyle offerings,” said Lingam, who is currently the group president for airlines.
The creation of AirAsia Aviation will help “facilitate strong projected growth” across the group’s offerings, Lingam said.
“The AirAsia Aviation Limited entity holds our existing airline investments and paves the way for new airline ventures to be formed in due course,” he said.
AirAsia Aviation has set up a consulting division, which Lingam says is “tasked at reviewing new airline partnerships and franchise opportunities”.
Speculation about an AirAsia presence in Cambodia was sparked last November when the Malaysian company said it was “actively exploring” opportunities for a local airline presence in the Indochina region, although it did not elaborate further.
“Cambodia has attracted several startup airlines in recent years and continues to be a market of interest for potential new airlines,” said Brendan Sobie, an independent analyst at Sobie Aviation. “AirAsia has already been serving Cambodia from Malaysia and Thailand. An affiliate in Cambodia would enable AirAsia to access other markets from Cambodia. Typically, China is the focus for any new Cambodian airline,” he said.
Passenger traffic at the Kingdom’s three international airports in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville fell 92.3 percent in the first seven months of this year, compared with January to July 2020. Alain Brun, chief executive officer of Cambodia Airports, said recently the three airports had upgraded their Covid-safety measures and could go from a few hundred passengers daily to thousands of visitors overnight.
Prime Minister Hun Sen has called for the country to be reopened before the end of the year – with either a seven-day quarantine or none at all. The government is seeking to drop all Covid restrictions this month if daily infection rates remain low.
Thailand is planning to reopen next month after the successful implementation of the sandbox scheme in resorts such as Phuket. Indonesia’s Bali island has reopened to international visitors although there are currently no international flights. Vietnam plans to reopen the island of Phu Quoc to foreigners next month. Singapore is allowing fully vaccinated foreigners from selected countries to enter without quarantine.
Lingam says he is hopeful the region will recover quickly from the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, helped by the speed of immunisation campaigns in its key markets. Malaysia recently eased interstate travel restrictions, allowing domestic travellers to visit resort destinations such as Langkawi.
AirAsia plans to return to its pre-Covid capacity of 39 local routes and 169 flights by the end of next month and is also hoping to resume international routes to Thailand, Sri Lanka and the Maldives this month.
“Pleasing progress is also under way in our other airlines in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines as services are resuming in line with accelerated vaccination rates and the easing of travel restrictions in our key markets,” Lingan said.
AirAsia flew to Phnom Penh three times a day before Covid-19. It suspended all flights in July last year when Cambodia banned flights from Malaysia after some transit passengers tested positive for the virus.
AirAsia Group increased its digital offerings after its airline business took a hit from the Coronavirus crisis. It launched AirAsia Digital in September last year. Its five portfolio companies cover areas such as payment services, logistics, food and travel.
In July AirAsia Digital announced it was acquiring the Thai operations of Indonesia’s Gojek to expand its AirAsia Super App in ASEAN by delivering groceries and beauty items in key cities such as Bangkok and Chiang Mai.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50953478/airasia-group-eyes-cambodia-with-brand-new-airline-venture/