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AirAsia X Berhad • Annual Report 2014
It gives me great pleasure to present my first statement
as Group CEO of AirAsia X, a position to which I was
appointed on 30 January 2015. The position itself is a first
for the Company, and is the result of the airline realising a
long-held vision to establish a network of hubs across the
region. During the financial year 2014, two new hubs were
launched: Thailand followed by Indonesia.
The regional network emulates a model pioneered by
AirAsia X’s older “sibling”, AirAsia, which also branched
out first into Thailand, then Indonesia followed by the
Philippines and, now, India. There are, in fact, many
parallels between AirAsia X and AirAsia, which are not
surprising given that this airline was born to do in the
medium to long-haul sector what AirAsia was, and still is,
doing in the short-haul space.
Having been part of AirAsia’s growth with Tony from the
very beginning, I now look forward to replicating the same
story of success at our sister organisation. The going was
never easy for us at AirAsia, just as it has not been for
AirAsia X. But with the benefit of our experience and the
many lessons learnt we plan to refresh the entire business
model and strategies of the AirAsia X Group – comprising
Malaysia AirAsia X (MAAX), Thai AirAsia X (TAAX) and
PT Indonesia AirAsia Extra (IAAX) – to take it to greater
heights.
The airline has pioneered innovative services that have
added to passenger comfort and convenience, leading
to international awards such as being named by Skytrax
as the World’s Best Low-Cost Airline for Premium Class
Seats and Premium Cabin two years in a row. As a result
of conscientious efforts to keep costs low, it has also
achieved the distinction of being the lowest unit cost per
available seat kilometre (CASK) airline in the world at
US3.94 cents, which is 50% lower than the 10 largest full-
service carriers in Asia-Pacific.
During the year, the Group achieved a healthy load factor
of above 80%. As at 30 April 2015, our 26 Airbus A330-300
aircraft was serving 25 routes with 19 destinations in 11
countries.
In other words, the fundamentals are already there. We
have a great team of 2,903 Allstars working in a great
environment. All that needs to be done now is to build on
these in a strategic manner.
Towards this end, I will be working closing with the heads
of all our national AirAsia X operations – Benyamin Bin
Ismail, the Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MAAX;
Nadda Buranasiri, CEO of TAAX; and IAAX’s CEO, Dendy
Kurniawan – to be able to leverage on each operation’s
strengths and derive maximum benefits from economies of
scale where applicable.
GROUP
CEO’S STATEMENT
HAVING CHOSEN TO GO DOWN THE PATH LESS
TRAVELLED, CHALLENGES ARE PART AND PARCEL
OF OUR JOURNEY AND SERVE ONLY TO FURTHER
STRENGTHEN OUR RESOLVE TO PUT OUR HEADS
TOGETHER, FINE-TUNE OUR STRATEGIES AND
ACCELERATE OUR MOMENTUM OF GROWTH.
AirAsia X’s regional expansion marks a turning point in our
onward journey, presenting many exciting opportunities.
Among my key roles is to create strong links between
the different entities within the existing network for the
benefit of the individual operations as well as the Group
and our valued customers – today, tomorrow and in the
foreseeable future.
BUSINESS OVERVIEW
As a result of geopolitical events in the region – inclusive
of the elections in Indonesia; territorial disputes between
China and its neighbours; and the military coup in Thailand
– as well as the three airline incidents involving Malaysian
Airlines System and Indonesia AirAsia, it has been perhaps
the worst year in aviation history for Malaysia and the
AIRASIA X’S REGIONAL EXPANSION MARKS ATURNING
POINT IN OUR ONWARD JOURNEY, PRESENTING MANY
EXCITING OPPORTUNITIES. AMONG MY KEY ROLES IS
TO CREATE STRONG LINKS BETWEENTHE DIFFERENT
ENTITIESWITHINTHE EXISTING NETWORK FORTHE
BENEFIT OFTHE INDIVIDUAL OPERATIONS ASWELL AS
THE GROUP AND OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS –TODAY,
TOMORROW AND INTHE FORESEEABLE FUTURE.
