BIZ BUZZ: Fernandes on a high
Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A and Advisor and Steward of the AirAsia Group, has been on cloud 9 for some days now.
And he has many reasons to stay there.
For one, AirAsia Bhd has just signed a landmark agreement with Airbus valued at $12.25 billion covering 50 A321XLRs with rights for 20 A321XLRs, with the first aircraft scheduled to be delivered in 2028.
With this agreement, the airline takes a major step towards becoming “the world’s first low-cost narrow-body network carrier”.
“We pioneered low-cost travel in Asia – now, we are taking it to the next level. AirAsia is on a transformative journey to become the world’s first low-cost network carrier. This is about exponential growth, connecting geographies beyond Asean, and making flying even more democratic,” Fernandes said in a statement.
“We gave people in Asean the opportunity to explore Asia – now we want the world to see Asean, and Asean to see the world. The A321XLR and A321LR are the game-changers enabling this vision, and we are proud to lead the charge in making our world smaller. We can’t wait to paint the skies even wider in red,” he added.
The Philippines will figure prominently in the expansion plans and Fernandes is scheduled to visit the Philippines for a long-delayed catch-up with partners here to discuss how to take AirAsia Philippines on the path of faster growth.
But Fernandes already said in a briefing last week that exciting times are indeed ahead for the Philippines.
“I’m coming to the Philippines. It’s long overdue. There’s lots to discuss … and I have a lot to say,” said Fernandes, who shared that some of those brand-new planes scheduled to start coming in from Airbus will surely find their way to the Philippines over the next few years.
