AirAsia Ride to launch in Thailand next month

yong · Post by **yong** » Wed Mar 16, 2022 7:05 pm

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Transp ... 4&si=44594

Malaysia's AirAsia Ride to launch in Thailand next month
Capital A's latest business expansion comes as losses weigh on finances

Capital A controls budget airline AirAsia as well as e-hailing service AirAsia Ride, which is launching in Thailand in April. © Reuters
P PREM KUMAR, Nikkei staff writerMarch 16, 2022 17:53 JST

KUALA LUMPUR -- Capital A's e-hailing subsidiary AirAsia Ride announced on Wednesday that it will launch services in Thailand next month, as the parent holding company expands aggressively despite financial losses.

Ride-hailing will commence in the Thai capital Bangkok before expanding to other major cities, said Lim Chiew Shan, regional CEO of AirAsia Ride.

"We are starting the service with 5,000 taxis," Lim said at a news conference. adding it would expand to "private drivers after a few months."

AirAsia Ride, which began in Kuala Lumpur in August, currently covers all major cities in Malaysia with 30,000 registered drivers and monthly bookings in the six digits, Lim said.

He added that the e-hailing service's total rides increased an average of 63% month on month in 2021. It has recorded over 700,000 rides to date.

AirAsia Ride is part of Capital A, which launched in January and is co-owned by aviation tycoon Tony Fernandes, a founder of budget carrier AirAsia. Fernandes started focusing on the expansion of non-airline businesses after the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed air travel early in 2020.

From an initial step into cargo logistics and online travel agency businesses, Fernandes now owns a non-airline empire that spans sectors from food, groceries and restaurants to parcel delivery, insurance and microlending.

AirAsia's digital business division was valued at $1 billion as of July, and Fernandes has said he aspires for it to provide half of the group's total income in the medium term.

AirAsia in July announced that AirAsia Digital had acquired Indonesian company Gojek's operations in Thailand in an all-share deal worth $50 million and which included Gojek taking a 5% stake in AirAsia Digital.

Grab has been Malaysia's dominant e-hailing player since Uber's exit in 2018. The Singapore-based company commanded over 72% of the local market as of last year, according to the company's initial public offering documents.

AirAsia's net loss in 2020 ballooned to 5.1 billion ringgit ($1.2 billion) from 315.8 million ringgit in 2019. Revenue, meanwhile, was 3.1 billion ringgit in 2020, down from 11.9 billion ringgit in 2019, as the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related travel blockades hit the company.

The situation improved in 2021, with the airline reporting a net loss of 3.1 billion ringgit, on the back of 1.73 million ringgit in revenue.

The Bursa Malaysia stock exchange in January placed Capital A on watch, demanding that it conduct a financial restructuring within a year or face automatic delisting.

Last week, the Malaysian company was denied a much-anticipated government-backed loan of 500 million ringgit that it had been banking on to fund operations as Southeast Asia rapidly reopens borders for travel and tourism.

truffledog · Post by **truffledog** » Wed Mar 16, 2022 10:20 pm

if AA will survive it will be a great comeback I am sure. Cant see anyone else fill the gap.

Cowshed Cowboy · Post by **Cowshed Cowboy** » Wed Mar 16, 2022 11:12 pm

truffledog wrote: ↑Wed Mar 16, 2022 10:20 pm if AA will survive it will be a great comeback I am sure. Cant see anyone else fill the gap.

They still owe their customers money and undoubtedly will get away without paying a significant percencetage back. I don't salute airlines that never paid back their customeres. Hats off to Vietnam Airlines, noted,

jaynewcastle · Post by **jaynewcastle** » Wed Mar 16, 2022 11:30 pm

I'm waiting for a small refund, they said in December 2020 that I could have a refund after cancelling my flight

, haven't got it yet but they are working on it, per the last email I got in December 2021

" We are pleased to inform you that your refund request has been validated in our system for booking number ******. We thank you for your patience while our team processes your request. You will receive a notification from us once your refund payment is completed. "

Doc67 · Post by **Doc67** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 9:44 am

I'm still owed Philippines Airline biz class flight from Vancouver to PP. They promised a voucher but I never heard from them again. I wonder if they are answering their emails yet.

Do AA ride hailing business offer incentives or air miles for their airline? That could encourage people to change out of Grab/Uber etc