AirAsia to reveal Jakarta team on Monday
Posted on 14 June 2012 - 05:39am
SEPANG (June 14, 2012): AirAsia Bhd will announce on Monday the key appointees to head its Asean head office in Jakarta, Indonesia, its group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said.
It will also name the CEOs of the airline's respective units in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan. It was reported that AirAsia regional head of corporate finance and treasury, Aireen Omar, and its chief of operations and planning, Bo Lingam, are frontrunners for the post of CEO for Malaysia.
News of AirAsia relocating its Asean regional operations from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta surfaced in May last year, but at the time Fernandes told SunBiz it was still a preliminary idea. Since then, AirAsia regional head of Asean affairs, N.V. Raman, was one of the senior executives who have relocated to Jakarta to set up the head office.
Fernandes dismissed talk that Raman will head the Asean head office, but hinted that he himself might move to Jakarta.
"I haven't said (whether) I am going yet, but it will be a good assumption that I am going there. I will spend more time around the region. (But) home is still here (Kuala Lumpur)," he told a news conference here yesterday, to announce the establishment of the new Asean entity in Jakarta.
Fernandes denied that AirAsia's relocation was due to recent pressure from Malaysia Airlines' (MAS) unions which had opposed the share swap with the low-cost carrier. The deal was called off eight months after its signing in August 2011.
"Over the past 10 years (since AirAsia's inception), I have fought in many different battles. If I was fed up with MAS unions now, I would have left (Malaysia) a long time ago from lots of things. For example, seven years it took me to get (the right to fly on) KL-Singapore route. And the many battles we had with Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), which is still going on."
Fernandes reiterated that the relocation will not have an impact on its Malaysian operations, but that the airline wants to be nearer to the base of the Asean secretariat and that it will be easier to facilitate planning and the execution of activities among its group companies in the region, out of Jakarta.
It also wants to expand its market in Indonesia, as AirAsia is currently lagging behind Indonesian low-cost carrier Lion Air which has a fleet of 65 B737s and has placed an order for another 230 planes, as opposed to AirAsia Indonesia's fleet of 20 A320s.
"The move is to ensure that the team and I are focused equally on the entire region. That is the primary reason. We may one day move back (to KL) when we have our own (low-cost) terminal, that is, if we move (to KLIA2), and a new superoffice, because my job will be done then," said Fernandes.
He also said AirAsia will announce a few more joint-venture airlines this year, identifying South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, India and China as potential markets.
Meanwhile, Fernandes expects AirAsia's board to approve the plan to order about 50 new A320s with 50 options from Airbus SAS in one to two months.
Fernandes hinted that he might move to Jakarta too.It will also name the CEOs of the airline's respective units in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan. It was reported that AirAsia regional head of corporate finance and treasury, Aireen Omar, and its chief of operations and planning, Bo Lingam, are frontrunners for the post of CEO for Malaysia.
News of AirAsia relocating its Asean regional operations from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta surfaced in May last year, but at the time Fernandes told SunBiz it was still a preliminary idea. Since then, AirAsia regional head of Asean affairs, N.V. Raman, was one of the senior executives who have relocated to Jakarta to set up the head office.
Fernandes dismissed talk that Raman will head the Asean head office, but hinted that he himself might move to Jakarta.
"I haven't said (whether) I am going yet, but it will be a good assumption that I am going there. I will spend more time around the region. (But) home is still here (Kuala Lumpur)," he told a news conference here yesterday, to announce the establishment of the new Asean entity in Jakarta.
Fernandes denied that AirAsia's relocation was due to recent pressure from Malaysia Airlines' (MAS) unions which had opposed the share swap with the low-cost carrier. The deal was called off eight months after its signing in August 2011.
"Over the past 10 years (since AirAsia's inception), I have fought in many different battles. If I was fed up with MAS unions now, I would have left (Malaysia) a long time ago from lots of things. For example, seven years it took me to get (the right to fly on) KL-Singapore route. And the many battles we had with Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), which is still going on."
Fernandes reiterated that the relocation will not have an impact on its Malaysian operations, but that the airline wants to be nearer to the base of the Asean secretariat and that it will be easier to facilitate planning and the execution of activities among its group companies in the region, out of Jakarta.
It also wants to expand its market in Indonesia, as AirAsia is currently lagging behind Indonesian low-cost carrier Lion Air which has a fleet of 65 B737s and has placed an order for another 230 planes, as opposed to AirAsia Indonesia's fleet of 20 A320s.
"The move is to ensure that the team and I are focused equally on the entire region. That is the primary reason. We may one day move back (to KL) when we have our own (low-cost) terminal, that is, if we move (to KLIA2), and a new superoffice, because my job will be done then," said Fernandes.
He also said AirAsia will announce a few more joint-venture airlines this year, identifying South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, India and China as potential markets.
Meanwhile, Fernandes expects AirAsia's board to approve the plan to order about 50 new A320s with 50 options from Airbus SAS in one to two months.
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