AirAsia to move regional office to Jakarta

[Cheng Long 0]

Since when is any big project in this country not fishy?

 

LRT extension, MRT, KLIA2, second Penang Bridge - they are all fishy!

 

Well.. No one saying they are not.. They all are.. But Labu didn't make a lot of sense as KLIA was underutilized and a separate airport won't help..

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

Well.. No one saying they are not.. They all are.. But Labu didn't make a lot of sense as KLIA was underutilized and a separate airport won't help..

 

Especially one that's not far from KLIA.

[flee 5]

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- AirAsia Indonesia aims to transport approximately four million passengers from and to its Jakarta hub alone in 2012, 33 per cent up from this year's estimated 3 million.

 

In a statement from Jakarta today, the airline said the integration of its operations at Terminal 3, Soekarno Hatta International Airport, will enable guests to seamlessly transfer between domestic and international flights and vice versa.

 

"In addition, our Fly Thru facility enables connection from Jakarta to many exciting destinations such as Melbourne, Gold Coast, Chengdu, Hangzhou (Shanghai), Muumbai, Christchurch, New Delhi, Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka, Taipei, Paris and London.

 

"In the long run, we hope to transform Jakarta into a critical international transit hub," President Director of AirAsia Indonesia, Dharmadi said.

 

He said Air Asia Indonesia operates a brand new fleet of Airbus A320s, which by year-end will consist of 16 aircraft.

 

"Five ordered planes are set to be delivered in 2012, which will make a total fleet of 21," he said.

 

Yesterday, AirAsia Indonesia unveiled its sophisticated green home at Terminal 3.

 

The state-of-the-art terminal, which formerly housed only Indonesian domestic flights, will officially be open for international flights from today.

 

"The sleek and eco-friendly Terminal 3 has served as AirAsia Indonesia's main base of domestic operations since April 15, 2009.

 

"The airline now consolidates its Jakarta hub operations under one roof by serving both domestic and international flights from Terminal 3," Dharmadi said.

 

He added that for passengers' convenience, AirAsia Indonesia provides four and five self check-in kiosks for domestic and international flights respectively.

 

"Guests are able to check in from these kiosks 24 hours prior and up to one hour before the scheduled departure time," he said.

[KK Lee 5]

CGK T3

 

Airside. International arrivals are bus to international arrival gate on another side of the terminal.

 

Pax pickup and drop off

 

Inter-terminals bus and taxi stand

 

 

Pax only checkin area

 

Public area

 

Departure floor, landside

 

Some of the restaurants

 

Unusually open immigration counters

 

Airside, common holding without any F&B outlet or shop.

 

Only one stair and escalator down to boarding gate.

 

Believe toilet won't be sufficient to cope with capacity.

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

Looks quite small to cope with AK/QZ's projected growth. But in the master plan of CGK T3, there will be 5 of the same pier/terminal building that we see at the moment.

 

 

Pier 1 (yellow) has been completed, i.e. the existing T3. Maybe the authority will start constructing the second pier soon.

 

On another hand, CGK T3 was used to be shared by QZ and Mandala for their domestic operations. The death of Mandala speeds up AK/QZ's centralised operation in T3.

[KK Lee 5]

Looks quite small to cope with AK/QZ's projected growth. But in the master plan of CGK T3, there will be 5 of the same pier/terminal building that we see at the moment.

 

Pier 1 (yellow) has been completed, i.e. the existing T3. Maybe the authority will start constructing the second pier soon.

 

Yep, the international airside holding room can accommodate about 3 to 4 number of A320 pax only.

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

Latest from the AK Gossip Division:

 

From: Tony Fernandes

Sent: Wednesday, 7 March, 2012 3:23 PM

Subject: AirAsia ASEAN

 

Dear AllStars,

 

As we continue into 2012, I would like to say a huge “Thank You” to all staff for helping AirAsia to soar in its first decade of operations. I look forward to working with all of you for an even more exciting second decade!

 

Going forward however require us relooking at some of the critical roles and organizational set-up we have, and think about what new things we need to introduce. The things that helped made us successful in our first decade may not be the best things as we enter into our second decade. We must always innovate and change to suit the new times and conditions and realities.

 

Starting from 2012, there will be two major changes to the way we do business. I would like to talk about them in more details, and tell you about what are our plans in implementing them.

 

1. JAKARTA OFFICE

 

In 2012 we will start operating the new AirAsia Jakarta office in Jakarta. We will have a small core of Group functional heads there, who will manage the various AirAsia companies as a group. They will make sure we have a consistent look and feel in our branding and operations and culture wherever we operate. This is a critical need as we become bigger and start having more operations in more countries.

 

Given that the ASEAN secretariat is also in Jakarta, this will help us to push for a more level playing field, both on commercial, operational and regulatory areas, across all of ASEAN. This will help AirAsia especially, already the most ASEAN of all companies in the region, grow and expand and become a true ASEAN powerhouse.

 

The Group heads based in Jakarta will be located there permanently. I expect all movement and transition from their current office (mostly from MAA in Kuala Lumpur, though over time I want to see a truly diverse Group management team from all across the region) from April 2012.

 

The Group heads and teams will be travelling a lot across the Group operations to make sure they are consistent and we leverage on any opportunities to learn from each other as well as cut costs and increase revenues. Group heads won’t be “double-hatting” anymore – they won’t be handling Group AND country responsibilities at the same time. I want the Group heads to appoint country heads to replace them in their country roles immediately, or where succession is not ready, before the end of the first half of 2012.

 

I shall be appointing a CEO to the Malaysian operations soon, and have proposed the name for the Board’s consideration. I shall fully move into my role as the Group CEO working with the country CEOs of Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan (and other countries as they come on board), as well as the Group functional heads. I and Kamarudin shall be working out of Jakarta whilst we work on our group growth strategies, but we will be travelling across our networks regularly, and you can expect to see us as much as before, if not more.

 

 

2. GROUP MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

 

The way we run the group now is based on strong relationships and constant communication and high level of trust. Whilst we have pushed through a few core beliefs and principles on how the AirAsia companies should be run (high efficiency and asset utilization, great and consistent branding, great culture etc) it gets more and more difficult to continue managing it this way as we grow.

 

The downside of our current management structure is that countries sometimes becomes misaligned from the core management and business principles, and we end up spending a lot of energy trying to bring everything back in line. Our energy is best used to grow the business and fight the competition and serve our guests better rather than fix internal misalignment.

 

With that in mind, and in conjunction with the set-up of our Jakarta office, we will manage the Group differently from 2012 onwards. Here are the core roles, and how they will interact:

 

Deputy Group CEO, President Group Finance, Corporate Finance, Treasury and Legal : Kamarudin will take on this role to ensure the group has a strong and focused management and supervision in the critical areas of finance and legal and compliance. Reporting to him are Andrew Littledale, who has just been promoted to Group CFO, Aireen Omar who handles Corporate Finance, Amir Faezal who handles Legal & Compliance, whilst Kamarudin handles Treasury direct

 

Group Management Team (GMT): This will be a small core of our senior management team that will meet regularly and review the group’s progress and decide on policies as well as push for innovation and collaboration. The members shall be myself, Kamarudin, Tassapon (TAA CEO), Bo Lingam (Group Chief of Operations & Planning), Kathleen Tan (Group Head Commercial, also representing the AirAsiaGo/Expedia JV), Andrew Littledale (Group CFO), Zaman Ahmad (Group Head of Customer Experience & Technology, also representing the CAE/Academy JV), Johan Aris Ibrahim (Group Head Financial Services & Loyalty, also representing the Tune Group) and Adzhar Ibrahim (Group Head People). Azran Osman-Rani, representing AirAsiaX, is also a part of the GMT. Other members of the management team outside of the GMT may also be invited to attend permanently or as needed.

 

Country CEOs: They will work towards growing the business in their country, manage safety, manage corporate governance (and investor relations when they go public) and government relations, be local ambassadors of our brand and look for and develop new business opportunities. They will also monitor the performance of the Group heads and their teams in their own respective countries.

 

Group Heads: The Group heads of operations, commercial, customer experience, people, financial services and loyalty will run their respective functions by having direct control of the various country heads under their function. They will hire the country heads, manage their performance and determine their rewards such as increments, promotions, bonuses and growth and development. They will work very closely with the country CEOs to make sure good decisions are made and communication channels are open.

 

In functions where the country CEOs have primary responsibilities, such as finance, safety etc, the country heads of such functions will work closely with the Group heads of those functions to make sure we have consistent policies and processes and decisions are made after having taken into account all relevant factors at country as well as group level

 

Country Heads: in the functions that report direct to the group heads, the country heads will report directly to the Group heads, and indirectly to the country CEOs. They will take their primary instructions from their group heads, who will work closely with the country CEOs to make sure we manage all issues properly and we share all successes together.

 

In areas where the countries have direct responsibilities, such as finance and safety etc, the country heads of these functions will report directly to the country CEOs, but with strong ties to the Group heads of these functions

 

This business model has its own complexities, but it has been proven to be very successful by large international companies such as GE which wanted to create a strong and consistent operation, branding and culture. I have full faith and trust in our managers’ ability to work together and trust each other and learn from each other, and I have no doubt we can be successful.

 

To recap:

 

• I and Kamarudin shall manage the AirAsia Group through our Jakarta office.

 

• We have set up a Group Management Team (GMT) made up of a small team of functional heads and CEOs to help manage the group.

 

• Country CEOs will focus on growing the brand and the business and managing regulatory functions in their own country, whilst Group heads will have primary responsibility in managing the operations and branding and culture in all the countries directly. But the country CEOs will have a key role in monitoring the overall performance of the country. Some country heads will report directly to Group heads, and indirectly to country CEOs, whilst some others will report directly to country CEOs and indirectly to Group heads.

 

• Country heads of the functions that are run directly by Group heads will be hired, managed, rewarded and developed by Group heads, who will work closely with the country CEOs on these.

 

• The country organizational set-up must be identical from one country to another country. This will allow us to manage each country consistently through this new management structure. Where there are current inconsistencies, we will make changes that will become effective as soon as possible

 

There are a lot of details that need to be worked out – keep a lookout for more details being announced over the next few weeks. I expect the structure to be fully set up and changes to reporting lines made and job descriptions re-written before the end of Quarter 2, 2012.

 

Lots of love

 

Tony

[flee 5]

AirAsia to Enter Second Decade with New Regional Strategy

 

SEPANG, 13 JUNE - A decade ago, AirAsia came under new ownership and management and relaunched itself as Asia's first low-cost carrier. The new incarnation began with a "fleet" of two aging Boeing-737's, six domestic routes and a staff of 250 Malaysian nationals. Ten years on, the AirAsia Group encompasses six airlines --- AirAsia Malaysia, AirAsia Thailand, AirAsia Indonesia, Philippines’ AirAsia, AirAsia Japan and AirAsia X -- serving 80 destinations on 142 routes, a practically all-new fleet of 103 Airbus A-320's and 11 wide-body A330's and A-340's. Our staff or better known as AirAsia AllStars now number around 10,000 and they represent all the nationalities of ASEAN as well as nationalities from East, West and South Asia -- and elsewhere in the world.

 

Our amazing growth in our first decade has created a momentum of its own. In fact, over the past several months, there have been a successive number of announcements regarding the future plans of the AirAsia Group. In a nutshell, we are expanding at our usual exponential rate despite the economic uncertainty gripping much of the world. In addition, AirAsia is venturing beyond the airline industry as it seeks to monetize its assets by partnering with world-renowned companies in specific sectors -- for example, our joint ventures with CAE and Expedia, what we call our "adjacency" businesses. All this in addition to nurturing our core airline competency by enlarging our fleet and launching new routes to boost connectivity in ASEAN and beyond.

 

Given this context, it has become abundantly clear to us that as we enter our second decade, there needs to be a major shift in our perspective, strategy and operations if we are to sustain our trajectory. In short, we need to pivot to a wider, regional lens from the first decade's focus, which was largely domestic. The enormous potential in an underserved market of 3 billion people spread across ASEAN, Northeast Asia and South Asia offers huge opportunities -- and AirAsia, we are convinced, is ideally positioned to reap huge dividends by serving this market.

 

In line with this shift in our focus, we have established a regional base in Jakarta. Called AirAsia Asean, the office will be located far enough, physically as well as psychologically, from AirAsia's airline offices in each of the countries we operate in. We are currently in the process of restructuring our management to accommodate this shift in emphasis on our future growth plans. Ideally, AirAsia Asean will provide us with an environment free of the pressures of day-to-day operations and the necessary "firefighting" that accompanies these endeavours, and allow our senior managers the space, the time and the interaction so vital to keep us flying higher in our second decade.

 

Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, AirAsia’s Group Chief Executive Officer said, “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. AirAsia is committed to upholding our pledge to Malaysians that "Now Everyone Can Fly."

 

“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. We are blessed to be located in a part of the world where economic growth is expected to be sustained despite the chilly economic winds blowing through Europe and the United States. 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. But while others focus largely on trying to gain market share in domestic markets, we seek to expand our footprint throughout the region. After all, 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 2 billion,” he added further.

 

Take this as an example: AirAsia Malaysia currently has a fleet of 58 A320s, serving a population of 30 million and earning revenues of more than RM 1 billion. AirAsia Thailand has a fleet 24 aircraft while AirAsia Indonesia has just 18 aircraft. Thailand's population at 70 million is more than twice that of Malaysia, while Indonesia is home to 240 million people living in one of the fastest growing economies in Asia. In fact, I believe Jakarta, Indonesia's capital city, is by itself home to around 15million -- half of Malaysia's entire population. Then add Philippines, with its 90 million people spread across a vast archipelago, and where AirAsia Philippines now has just two aircraft. The LCC penetration in Japan is a mere 7 percent, and AirAsia Japan is launching in Tokyo with just one aircraft. Just one look, and it is clear where our future growth is going to come from. Malaysia is a maturing market, while Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Japan offer tantalizing possibilities for the Group's bottom line.

 

AirAsia Asean will serve as the "nerve centre" of our regional expansion. It will operate very much like how the Ryanair office in Dublin, Ireland, serves as the strategic planning centre of Europe's largest LCC. AirAsia Asean will also help us to ensure that our voice, our concerns and our appeals are heard much more clearly in the corridors of power within ASEAN. In fact, one of the reasons for locating the office in Jakarta is to help us engage more closely with the ASEAN Secretariat, which is headquartered in Indonesia's capital city. Locating our regional base in Jakarta is also likely to have the beneficial effect of helping raise the profile and branding of AirAsia Indonesia, which is heading for a listing on the Jakarta Stock Exchange by the end of the year.

 

As a matter of corporate compliance, the Group is undertaking customary regulatory compliance processes with regards to the above.

 

Source: http://announcements...rAsia Asean.pdf

[Izanee 0]

Yeah tony, even so, Ryanair is an Irish company with its headquarters in Dublin. Air Asia started off in Malaysia and the HQ should be in KL. Don't forget where you came from in your quest for more money. Without Malaysia, there would be no air Asia

[Alif A. F. 0]

"Ideally, AirAsia Asean will provide us with an environment free of the pressures of day-to-day operations and the necessary "firefighting" that accompanies these endeavours, and allow our senior managers the space, the time and the interaction so vital to keep us flying higher in our second decade."

 

That is something...

Edited June 14, 2012 by Alif A. F.

[flee 5]

Well lets hope that they don't make the mistakes so many MNCs make sitting in their Ivory Tower Regional offices - they get too divorced from the day to day operations that there is disconnect in their decision making. So while it is good to be able to do strategic planning, they must still keep their feet close to the ground.

[michgyver 0]

 

new CEO for Airasia Berhad

[Naim 6]

Doesn't look right.

[Raymund Yeoh 1]

Doesn't look right.

 

Why? She is not wearing the trademark baseball cap

[Naim 6]

Stiff competition at CRK ... so what is AK really selling?

 

 

===

[Kee Hooi Yen 0]

Doesn't look right.

 

Why? She is not wearing the trademark baseball cap

 

She just looked at her left ... not right

Edited June 18, 2012 by Kee Hooi Yen

[KK Lee 5]

AirAsia eyes Indonesia unit IPO by Q1 next year

 

June 18, 2012

 

KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 – Low cost airline AirAsia Bhd is looking to list its Indonesia operations by the first quarter of next year as it moves its regional base to southeast Asia’s largest economy to focus on further expansion, said its co-founder.

 

The initial public offering (IPO) will follow its planned listing of the group’s long haul unit AirAsia X Sdn Bhd, which is expected to fall some time between October and November this year, AirAsia’s group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes (picture) said today.

 

“No banks have been mandated yet though,” he told some reporters after a press conference. “It’s up to the board to decide.”

 

AirAsia’s IPOs plan comes at a time when Fernandes is stepping down as the chief executive officer of the Malaysian listed airline to focus on regional growth through Indonesia.

 

“The enormous potential in an underserved market of 3 billion people spread across Asean, Northeast Asia and South Asia offers huge opportunities and AirAsia, we are convinced, is ideally positioned to reap huge dividends by serving this market,” Fernandes said.

 

His Malaysia’s role will be succeeded by Aireen Omar, currently AirAsia’s regional head of corporate finance and treasury, from next month onwards.

 

AirAsia holds a 49 per cent stake in PT Indonesia AirAsia, which operates 17 Airbus A320 aircraft and flies to six cities in Indonesia, four others in Southeast Asia and one Australia, according to AirAsia’s 2011 annual report.

 

It listed its Thailand operations via Asia Aviation Pcl in the Thai market in May in a deal that raised 4.5 billion baht (RM451.79 million) to further fund its fleet expansion.

 

The company’s plan to list its units comes at a time when others have scrapped or delayed their IPOs on the back of market volatility driven by the protracted euro zone debt crisis.

 

The owners of German chemical company Evonik are reportedly scrapping their plans for what could have been Europe’s biggest initial public offering in more than a year. – Reuters

 

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/business/article/airasia-eyes-indonesia-unit-ipo-by-q1-next-year/

[Naim 6]

She just looked at her left ... not right

 

Looks like mama-san.

[flee 5]

New Growth Era For AirAsia, Say Research Houses

 

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 (Bernama) -- Upon full implementation of Asean open sky policy in 2015, MIDF Research expects a quantum leap in the growth of Indonesia, putting AirAsia Bhd in good stead should it execute the right strategy.

 

It said the profit-making budget carrier, with its regional office in Jakarta, currently owns 58 aircraft to serve Malaysia's 30 million population, compared with 18 aircraft to serve 240 million people in Indonesia.

 

"We believe the move by its rivals, Tiger Airways to acquire Indonesia's Airline Mandala and Lion Air to purchase 201 new Boeing 737 aircraft, has compelled AirAsia to base its regional office in the country," MIDF said in a research note.

 

With fuel cost accounting almost 50 per cent of its operating cost, MIDF Research expected the softening of jet fuel price to improve the carrier's profitability in the coming quarters.

 

Jet kerosene price fell sharply by 15.8 per cent to US$112.31/b since last month.

 

"Our view is that crude oil price will remain depressed at current level for the remaining 2012 due to weakening economic outlook in the Eurozone.

 

"We expect the same for jet kerosene price as it moves in tandem with crude oil price," it added.

 

From July 1, Aireen Omar will take over as chief executive officer of the Malaysian operations while Group Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes will oversee growth and expansion of the Asean market.

 

Meanwhile, OSK Research said apart from AirAsia's regional growth plan and ahead of the listing of its Indonesian associate, it believed the management may in the immediate term focus on growing its Indonesian market given that air travel remains underpenetrated due to its large population.

 

Both research houses have maintained a "buy" call for AirAsia.

 

AirAsia operates hubs in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. Singapore is the only missing link as the budget carrier has yet to establish an entity in that country although it is already functioning as a hub to some degree given its significant market share at Changi Airport.

[flee 5]

Taking Flight as the New Malaysia Chief

 

AirAsia Malaysia CEO Aireen Omar discusses:

- Appointment - AirAsia Malaysia CEO - shell-shocked - Oscar moment - insights;

- KPIs - targets;

- Costs management;

- 'Low Cost' - attacked as not cheap - issues;

- Load factors - ASKs - delays - issues;

- ‘Big shoe to fill’ - marketing - Tony Fernandes a 'natural' - free publicity - the Aireen Omar way;

- Tony - detractors - brilliant job - masking the unhappy landings - AirAsia aircraft - through the years - “near invisibility of Malaysia media reporting - issues;

- Marketing - Twitter - Social Media - policy - what's within limits - what’s off-limits;

- MAS - CCF - share swap un-bundling - issues;

- Malaysia Airports = feud - Landing charges - updates;

- Aircraft purchases - deliveries - ‘staying ahead of the curve’ - complicated rates - insights - details;

- Use of fleet - demand patterns - expansion - details;

- Oil prices - Jet kero - outlook - hedging .. details;

- Jet kero - spread to Brent;

- Marketing - void - learning curve;

- Tony - JKT - issues - management structure - implications.

 

http://www.bfm.my/assets/site/play.php?f=assets/files/Breakfast%20Grill/2012-06-21%20Podcast%20-%20BG%20Air%20Asia.mp3&p=222&r=13753

[dean hizudy 0]

Looks like mama-san.

well of coz if she already have some kids...

[flee 5]

On Air Asia ASEAN: ‘Jakarta is the future of ASEAN’

 

The ASEAN market is more promising than any regional market in other parts of the world, and low cost carrier AirAsia has recently opened a regional base in Jakarta to better penetrate the market. Group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandesmoved to Indonesia’s capital city to formulate the company’s strategy to spread its wings in Southeast Asia. The Jakarta Post’s Nurfika Osman talked to the man himself to find out just what he is doing in Indonesia. Below are excerpts from the interview.

 

Question: Why did you pick Jakarta as the base for AirAsia ASEAN?

 

Answer: We always do things differently. We are always a little bit ahead in our thinking. Jakarta to me is the biggest market in ASEAN, and (Indonesia) is the most liberal country: the culture is good; the press is free; you can write whatever you want to write; there is a lot of music and culture and there is a lot of talent here. I think there will be more and more Indonesians working for AirAsia going forward. And, it is just because I like the country.

 

Like I said in my speech earlier, I wake up in the morning and “wow it’s a dream, I am living in Jakarta” and yesterday when I went shopping for food it was unreal! We are here because it is a good market with good people, and I think Indonesia will become the center of ASEAN anyway. Most people go to Singapore: I think that is boring and old. The future of ASEAN is in Jakarta and I want to be part of it.

 

How will you develop AirAsia ASEAN and what kind of strategy do you have?

 

When you are in the airlines business, you do not have a lot of time to think because everyday there is a problem. But, I can think in this office, have a very clear mind, and I can meet people. I can fly to Surabaya tomorrow, I can go to Sulawesi, I can begin to understand the ASEAN market, and I start to communicate with Indonesians. Today, I received Twitter messages saying “Can you start a service from Sulawesi to Singapore?” or “Can you start a flight from Surabaya to Phuket?” By understanding what the people want, I can plan and move forward. So, the plan for AirAsia Group will be formulated here, and now we have CEOs in every country. I can really look to the future.

 

What is your vision for AirAsia ASEAN?

 

The grand vision is that we will be as well known as Coca-Cola. If one day everyone in ASEAN knows AirAsia, that will be a great success, that is number one. Number two is I think when most Indonesians play Broery songs, they feel nice, there are good memories, and I want when we say “AirAsia” people will feel nice things. AirAsia gives people the opportunity to fly to places they never been, gives jobs to people who never had jobs, so, there is a nice feeling about AirAsia. I hope that we can connect places that never had connectivity, like Bandung.

 

Now everyone flies to Bandung, but it was started by AirAsia, we are the pioneers, and it is good. I don’t care if other airlines are going to Bandung. It is fair, and the more choice, the better.

 

I believe there are many people haven’t flown to Sulawesi from Vietnam. Well, how many Vietnamese come to Indonesia? I am sure there are only a few. How many Indonesians go to the Philippines? I say it is a few. So, that is what I would like to do: make ASEAN a smaller place; everyone knows it, everyone likes it.

 

How strong will AirAsia be in the next five years?

 

I have a vision. Whether I get there or not, I don’t know, but we will work hard to make it happen. I really do not know. When I was a young kid and I told my dad

I wanted to have an airline, he laughed at me. I said I wanted to own a football club, he really laughed at me. Then, I said I wanted to own a Formula One team, he laughed at me again. But, I am lucky enough to make my dreams come true even though they are unbeliveable dreams. So, whether I get to my vision, we have to wait and see, but at least I have a vision and I will try. If I fail, I fail.

 

I’d rather try and fail than not try at all. Life is hard, it is easy to just stay at home and do nothing. It is much harder when you receive criticism and people dislike you. I’d rather go out there and try to do new things, help people, create jobs, create new business, than take the easy options.

 

So, what are your concrete plans to make AirAsia bigger in Indonesia?

 

The concrete plans are to start more flights to Indonesia. I think we have to work on our distribution system because we have focused on the Internet too much yet and most Indonesians do not have access to the Internet, especially outside of Jakarta. I also want to focus on building Internet properties, mobile technologies, with a lot of talented people in Indonesia. I believe they can help me grow our mobile applications and we are working with a lot of Indonesian companies on that.

 

What is the biggest challenge in running business in Indonesia?

 

The biggest challenge is the people do not really know you and they have heard a lot of rumors about you. I don’t think Indonesians are any different from other countries. Sometimes, it is like you may have a different vision of me, then you meet me, and you have yet another different vision.

 

It is a big country with a lot of media, a lot of Internet and lots of things have been said already. The challenge is to tell your real story to everybody. That is the biggest challenge in a country like Indonesia. But, generally we have been warmly welcomed here.

 

The other day when I sat in a coffee house, there were two people in the coffee house looking at the Internet, then they came to me and said, “Are you Tony Fernandes? Can I take your picture?” and it was fine for me. But, they did not believe that I was here by myself without bodyguards or lots of people, and I was short, and just walking around.

 

It is all about perception. They think I am up there so, the people can not talk to me, and so on. Perception remains the biggest challenge.

 

Source: http://www.thejakart...ture-asean.html

[alberttky 0]

The co-founders of AirAsia Bhd said today they will take more control of running Asia's largest budget carrier by passenger volume and push on with cutting costs that have been a drag on profit.

Tony Fernandes (pic) and Kamarudin Meranun, who started up AirAsia in 1993, had shifted their base to Indonesia and set up a regional office to focus on spearheading the company's expansion in Southeast Asia and further afield.

They will now move the regional office and merge its functions with Kuala Lumpur-listed AirAsia's head office to "simplify operations" in a company where net profit has tumbled 62% in the second quarter ended June.

"Kamarudin and I will be more involved in the operations of AirAsia Bhd as we continue our growth in the region and we will continue to focus on reducing costs," Fernandes said in a company statement.

"AirAsia has been on a cost-reduction drive, which has seen good success in the third quarter and will continue in the fourth quarter," he added.

AirAsia will report third quarter earnings on the week of November 18.

New roles

Fernandes will be re-designated as AirAsia Group CEO and will be tasked with driving brand value, cutting costs and driving efficiencies of AirAsia and its affiliates in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and soon to be India.

Kamarudin will take on the role as executive chairman and engage with the government and aviation regulators in Malaysia, the company said in the statement.

This includes working with Malaysia Airports Bhd, which has been tasked with setting up a new terminal for low-cost airlines that has been delayed four times since work began in 2010 and costs have risen to RM4 billion from RM3.1 billion.

Set to be the world's largest terminal for budget carriers, Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) plans to serve 45 million passengers a year.

"Low-cost always wins and one of the most important parts of my new role will be to reduce costs at airports and to emphasise to the government that any cost increases will be detrimental to the Malaysian economy," Kamarudin said.

Current AirAsia CEO Aireen Omar will report to Kamarudin on regulatory and stakeholder management and to Fernandes on operational performance matters, the statement said.

AirAsia shares ended up 0.4%, outperforming the broader market that slipped 0.2%. – Reuters, November 6, 2013.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/business/article/airasia-co-founders-to-take-more-control-of-budget-carrier-to-cut-costs

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

Their Indonesian play didn't work as planned. What a waste of resources.

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

What a twist of event.