AirAsia in talks to set up Myanmar airline

HONG KONG: AirAsia Bhd is in talks with a potential partner to open an airline serving Myanmar, in a move that would help the low-cost carrier cover up to 95% of the Southeast Asian travel market.

In an interview with Reuters yesterday, the airline’s group chief executive Tan Sri Tony Fernandes ( pix) said he also expected AirAsia’s Vietnam joint venture to be flying by October.

AirAsia now has businesses in Malaysia – its home – along with India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan and Thailand, as well as plans to launch an airline in China.

“Once you’ve covered Vietnam and Myanmar, you’ve got all the big (Southeast Asian) populations,” Fernandes said. “Vietnam – we’re talking about October, we’ve had great support from the Vietnam government and we have a great partner. My team are very bullish.

“It’s not going to be a big airline there (Myanmar), because the airport infrastructure is not there. But it is 50 million people and it will develop over time,” said Fernandes, who was in Sydney over the weekend for the Asean- Australia special summit.

He added: “We had a good meeting with someone in Sydney – he’s got a good airline that we’ve known for a long time and he is a well-respected guy. We’re going through that process.”

He did not name the potential partner. Fernandes was in Hong Kong for the launch of what he has termed a “We’re More Than an Airline” pitch, which he was due to present to analysts and investors at Credit Suisse’s Asia Investment Conference.