AirAsia creates new regional base in Jakarta

AirAsia will remain a Malaysian company, according to CEO Tony Fernandes

AirAsia has announced plans to open a new regional management office in Jakarta.

The new base, which will be called ‘AirAsia ASEAN’ forms part of the low-cost carrier’s new regional strategy being undertaken to mark its 10th anniversary. AirAsia will continue to operate offices in each of the countries in which it operates, namely Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, but said the new Indonesia office would be located “far enough, physically as well as psychologically, from AirAsia’s airline offices… [to] provide us with an environment free of the pressures of day-to-day operations”.

AirAsia’s Group CEO, Tony Fernandes, moved to quash fears however, that AirAsia – a Malaysian company – was relocating its business to Indonesia.

“To avoid any misinterpretation, let me be very clear: AirAsia Malaysia’s headquarters is not moving to Jakarta. AirAsia Malaysia is a Malaysian-registered airline, with all its aircraft registered under the Malaysian flag and it is a company listed on Bursa Malaysia. That will not change,” Fernandes stated.

“The establishment of the AirAsia ASEAN office in Jakarta as our regional base is to help to more fully deliver on that pledge to all the people of ASEAN and beyond,” he continued. “Shifting AirAsia’s emphasis to a regional strategy is, we believe, not just good business, but also a move that will keep us ahead of the inevitable competition that is heading our way.

“No single domestic market in ASEAN, not even Indonesia, can match the potential of a regional ASEAN market of 600 million people and a combined East Asian market of two billion,” he added.

While AirAsia will remain a Malaysian company, the airline said that the Jakarta office would act as the “nerve centre” of its new regional strategy. According to AirAsia, Jakarta’s place as the headquarters of the ASEAN Secretariat will help this strategy, while the move is also expected to help raise the profile of AirAsia Indonesia ahead of the subsidiary’s listing on the Jakarta stock exchange later this year.

AirAsia Group currently encompasses six airlines – AirAsia Malaysia, AirAsia Thailand, AirAsia Indonesia, AirAsia Philippines, AirAsia X and the soon-to-launch AirAsia Japan. It employs approximately 10,000 staff across the region.

By Mark Elliott, 13 June 2012, Wednesday 7:41 AM