AirAsia Group will not get involved in any new ventures for the next three years, Group CEO Tony Fernandes said in a Twitter post.
"As 2019 approaches, I would like to confirm that AirAsia will not be opening up any more new airlines for the next 3 years. After Vietnam, we will focus on what we have. Focus this year is to make Indonesia and Philippines very profitable," Fernandes wrote.
The LCC group signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Thien Minh Travel Joint Stock Company (TMG) and Hai Au Aviation Joint Stock Company (HAA) regarding the launch of its newest, and for now last, unit AirAsia Vietnam (Da Nang) on December 6.
Earlier in 2018, the group scrapped plans for launching AirAsia China (Zhengzhou) and a Myanmarese unit.
"AirAsia X (D7, Kuala Lumpur International) will have the best ever year in 2019. The most undervalued airline. Have done all the hard work. Cut silly routes. Renegotiated leases. Increased utilisation. Cut cost. Thai AirAsia X (XJ, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) roaring. Indonesia AirAsia X (IDX, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) stalked for the moment," Fernandes went on.
He then blamed public subsidies for competitors as one of the biggest problems for the long-haul low-cost AirAsia X family of airlines. The Indonesian unit is planning to exit scheduled operations in mid-January after terminating its last remaining route, Denpasar-Tokyo Narita, set to end on January 14, 2019. The carrier's narrowbody fleet was mostly returned to Indonesia AirAsia already.
In terms of short-haul units, Fernandes added that the youngest airlines, AirAsia India (Bengaluru International) and AirAsia Japan (Nagoya Chubu), should become profitable in 2021.
"We have a great franchise. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and Viet Nam. All the major populations and growing economies. Couples with two great countries to enable us to cover the world, India and Japan," Fernandes said.
