The CEO of Capital A says the Singaporean authorities have thrice denied it airline licence applications, with Tony Fernandes claiming it is because Singapore wants to protect its own airlines.
“Three times we had applied for an airline licence, three times we were rejected," he told Malaysia's Daily Star newspaper. "We could get other ASEAN countries but Singapore has blocked us all the time because it protects its airlines."
Capital A's AirAsia-branded airlines have secured air operator's certificates in Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Earlier this year, ch-aviation reported that Fernandes was also looking at basing an airline in Singapore and Viet Nam.
The ch-aviation schedules module shows three existing AirAsia carriers, AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia, and Thai AirAsia, currently serve Singapore, with Thai AirAsia flying the Singapore-Bangkok Don Mueang and Singapore-Phuket city pairs; Indonesia AirAsia connects Singapore to Denpasar and Jakarta Soekarno Hatta; and AirAsia flies the Singapore-Ipoh, Singapore-Kota Kinabalu, Singapore-Penang, Singapore-Kuala Lumpur International, Singapore-Langkawi, and Singapore-Kuching sectors. Collectively, the three airlines provide over 40,500 seats per week in and out of Singapore.
Fernandes suggested he would continue to seek a Singaporean licence, saying "don’t block me."
