AirAsia willing to teamup with MAHB to grow routes

KUALA LUMPUR: Low-cost carrier, AirAsia Bhd wants to work together with Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) to grow routes and traffic volumes in underutilised airports in the country, said its group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.
"There are lots of airports that are underutilised like in Langkawi, Kedah. These are the areas that we want to work together with airports to make it more efficient," he told reporters after the launch of its new low cost courier, Redbox here yesterday.
"Look at Phuket. It's got flights from all over the world. Look at what we have done in Bandung. That is what I want. We utilise our assets. Let's be innovative. By working together, we can create a win-win situation for everyone," he said.
Other under utilised airports include Sultan Azlan Shah Airport in Ipoh, Perak and Sultan Abdul Halim Airport in Alor Setar, Kedah.
He also said that the relationship between AirAsia and MAHB is much better now. "We talk, and I think the relationship can always be better when we talk. The new CEO (Datuk Badlisham Ghazali) is very open minded and he wants to work with us," he said. Relations between AirAsia and MAHB have seen some friction in recent years.
Meanwhile, Fernandes said its newly launched low cost courier service, Redbox, will provide 50% savings in costs compared to existing courier services.
According to him, the service designed by the airline will provide low cost courier services to businesses, average consumers, corporate clients and overseas foreign workers for the freight of regular parcels, business packages and documents throughout the airline's extensive route network.
Jointly marketed by R Box Asia Pte Ltd, the service is accessible online at redbox.airasia.com.
"For us to remain at the forefront of the industry and to continue our pledge to provide services at the lowest fares and rates, constant innovation and improvements to our products and services are very important. Ancillary income adds around 20% of our revenue and we are determined to boost this further with new services such as Redbox," he said.
Fernandes said plans are currently in the pipeline for the airline's future expansion of its courier services in other countries such as Australia, Japan, China and Hong Kong.
AirAsia is also to roll out more services like onboard WiFi services and duty-free shopping experiences soon.