If there was any doubt on Tan Sri Tony Fernandes constant reminder to investors that his AirAsia platform is a unicorn it will now be laid to rest. Credit Suisse in its latest report has recognised the platform as one of three ASEAN Unicorns based in Malaysia alongside Carsome and Edotco.
On getting this long waited acknowledgement, AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said “This sends a strong message to the industry that our strategy to become more than just an airline in the digital era is not only on the right track, but allows AirAsia to make a name for itself as a key player in the e-commerce and delivery space in Asean”
With a valuation of over USD 1 billion, AirAsia digital businesses has achieved Unicorn status under two years since when the company pivoted with focus on its non-airline verticals during the downturn.
He added that by creating the own super app with over 15 different travel and lifestyle offerings, the business can leveraging off one another, along with the edutech arm, AirAsia Academy. Among the verticals are cargo and logistics arm called Teleport, financial services business in BigPay which is on track to becoming Asean’s first virtual bank are all converging into the big digital play Tony is envisioning.
“On the airline side, we have a restaurant franchise chain and food group called Santan, and an engineering company – Asia Digital Engineering (ADE) – which will truly transform maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services in the region. We also have an industry leading ground services operation called GTR. All of which are going from strength to strength in the digital era.
To support the rapid expansion AirAsia has transformed into an investment holding company with a portfolio of synergistic travel and lifestyle businesses, including AirAsia Aviation Limited, Asia Digital Engineering, Santan Restaurant, Ground Team Red our ground handling venture, airasia Super App, Teleport our logistics business and Bigpay fintech.
What sets it apart from the competitors in the digital arena according to Tony is quality, know-your-customer data built up over 20 years, a great brand that people love coupled with exceptional customer experience and great rewards. AirAsia also have the advantage of not needing to build anything from scratch and a customer base that is in sync with our core proposition of always providing the best value and price.
“Mark my words, we are going to be a major player in the Asean digital economy. Recently we won the Business Innovation category at the 2021 Airline Strategy Awards. Our competitors are already taking notice and the best is yet to come, with new innovations and partnerships to be announced soon that will really shake up the industry, the way we revolutionised the Asean airline industry 20 years ago.”
