Skift Take
Tony Fernandes' vision for AirAsia's digital platforms is taking shape. He wants his airline to be your true travel companion. Watch out OTAs.
AirAsia.com is becoming a richer online travel platform by the day and is key to CEO Tony Fernandes’ plan to ramp up e-commerce and ancillary revenues this year.
The platform generated more than $4 billion (RM16 billion) in AirAsia’s online flight ticket sales last year, Fernandes revealed. The group is increasing its efforts to sell additional travel-related services such as hotels, tours, insurance and more to the millions who fly the airline.
The focus on AirAsia.com and ancillaries comes as “exceptionally high” fuel cost, aggressive capacity increase, lower average fare, closure of Boracay, and the prolonged chain of natural disasters in Indonesia last year eroded AirAsia Group’s fourth quarter earnings, released this week.
The group reported a net operating profit of RM98 million ($24 million) in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2018, compared with a net operating profit RM550 million ($135 million) in fourth quarter 2017.
Net profit for financial year 2018 rose 9 percent to RM1.7 billion ($417 million) over 2017
