Catching many off guard, AirAsia X Group Chief Executive Officer, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes announced his resignation from AirAsia X, the international low-cost airline under the group in a Bursa filing.
While speculation started swirling on his reason, the real reason was penned by the GCEO on his LinkedIn account soon after. In the recent top-line business performance update on Capital A, the group stated that in Q3 the airlines had returned to near pre-pandemic levels. The consolidated airlines carried over 7.1 million passengers, a 1925% increase year-on-year and a 28% increase quarter-on-quarter. The group operated a total of 68 aircraft, restoring 48 aircraft to service compared to a year ago.
AirAsia X had 45,000 flights in the quarter, up 1460% YoY from less than 3,000 flights flown in the same period last year and with more than 9,000 flights compared to the preceding quarter, supported by the upsurge in domestic and international travel demand in our key markets.
Tony in his posts said the ‘job was done, after taking over in July 2022 he had been working to consolidate the business while generating a new business model for the company. The launch of SuperApp was a result of his entrepreneurial mindset and has pivoted the over-reliance on the travel business to focus on newer businesses.
The CEO added that he will now go back to giving his full attention to Capital A and look at delivering shareholder value growth, he has likened Capital A to the jewel and within the next 8 months, it will become apparent to investors and shareholders the intrinsic value in the group.
During his short sting at AAX< TOny relaunched the airline after its hibernation from the pandemic-induced coma and rehired all the staff back, he also promised the recruit as many of the retrenched pilots.
The reign will now be handed back to the Chairman and CEO, AAX will be more of a mid-haul rather than a long haul and states that it will finally hit the heights Tony had dreamt about when he first mooted the idea.
Losing sleep over refunds, Tony also said that we will make sure everyone gets their refunds.
