Air Asia unit seeking more flights to Taiwan
BUDGET carrier Air Asia Philippines is seeking regulatory approval to mount additional flights to Taiwan, in line with efforts to expand in the region ahead of a possible listing in two years.
A notice of application to the Civil Aeronautics Board showed that the carrier, a unit of Malaysia’s Air Asia Berhad, was seeking an additional allocation of 1,260 seats per week between Manila and Taipei. This is in accordance to the existing Economic Cooperation Agreement between the Philippines and Taiwan.
The CAB said it would decide on the matter by Feb. 15 this year.
Air Asia Philippines signaled that it would resume expanding its fleet in the Philippines, which would allow it to better compete with local rivals Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air.
Joy Cañeba, Air Asia Philippines CEO, said in an earlier interview that the airline was beefing up its business to prepare for an initial public offering, possibly in 2018.
Air Asia was started by Malaysian tycoon Tony Fernandes, who said in previous interviews that the Philippines remained a key market for the group. Its Filipino partners here include businessmen Alfredo Yao, Marianne Hontiveros, Antonio Cojuangco Jr. and Michael Romero.
Cañeba said the company was increasing its capitalization from P2 billion to P5 billion. It will also lease five more Airbus A320s this year, adding to its fleet of 12 Airbus A320s.
Air Asia Philippines also wants to expand in China and South Korea, and start flying to Japan late this year.
The carrier, which has been losing money since it started in 2012, expects to begin posting its first full-year profit in 2016, Cañeba said.
Its financial statement submitted to the Malaysian Stock Exchange showed a loss of P1.36 billion from July to September 2015. This was lower than the P1.74 billion loss posted in the same period of 2014.
Revenue, however, improved 30 percent to P2.07 billion while its passenger count rose by 46 percent to 901,957 in the same period.
AirAsia Philippines booked a passenger load of 85 percent in the third quarter of 2015, better than the 65 percent recorded in the same period in 2014.
