分类： Air Asia

Airasia Philippines moves operations hub to NAIA-4

AirAsia Inc. Philippines, an affiliate of low cost carrier giant AirAsia Group Berhad of Malaysia, is moving to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Metro Manila after announcing it is ending its domestic and international flights from Clark International Airport in Pampanga.

AirAsia Group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes said in his Twitter account @tonyfernandes that AirAsia Philippines is moving to Manila through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal 4 (NAIA-4).

“AirAsia Philippines is moving to Manila. More choice more value. The world’s best low cost airline going to NAIA,” Fernandes tweeted.

However, Fernandes said the suspension of domestic and international flights of AirAsia Philippines in Clark is only temporary.

“Clark routes will be temporarily suspended. We will be going back to Clark,” he said.

Fernandes made a courtesy call to President Benign Aquino III and Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya early this week.

On Thursday, AirAsia Philippines chief executive officer Marianne Hontiveros told The STAR that the low cost carrier is temporarily suspending two domestic and two international flights from Clark after its affiliate Zest Airways Inc. booked heavy losses since its operations were suspended by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

AirAsia Berhad owns 40 percent of AirAsia Philippines while Filipino investors led by Hontiveros together with Antonio “Tonyboy” Cojuangco Jr., and Michael Romero and AMCY Holdings Inc. of Ambassador Alfredo Yao control 60 percent.

AirAsia Philippines completed the acquisition of an 85 percent economic interest and 49 percent voting rights in ZestAir as well as a 100 percent interest in Yao’s Asiawide Airways Inc. last May 10 based on a strategic alliance agreement forged last March 11.

In exchange, Yao’s ZestAir got $16 million as well as 13 percent interest in AirAsia Philippines that operates two Airbus aircraft in Clark while ZestAir has a fleet of 12 Airbus aircraft operating at the NAIA4.

Hontiveros said in an interview that Clark-Kalibo and Clark-Davao flights would end on Oct. 8 while Clark-Taipei and Clark-Hong Kong flights would end on Nov. 6. The Clark-Hong Kong flights would resume on Dec. 20 in time for the Christmas season rush.

According to her, the decision to wind down domestic and international flights was reached during the meeting of the Board of Directors of AirAsia Philippines last Tuesday.

“The directive to me by the board of AirAsia is to cut further losses in AirAsia Inc. Philippines. The direct losses arising from the suspension of the operations of ZestAir which is very sizeable,” Hontiveros stressed.

Last Aug. 16, CAAP grounded the fleet of ZestAir due to six aviation safety concerns in violation of the Philippine Civil Aviation Regulation (PCAR).

The suspension of the Airline Operators Certificate (AOC) was lifted by CAAP on Aug. 20 after the carrier complied with all safety requirement. It was placed under heightened surveillance last July 31 due to the cancellation of several flights over the past few months.

Hontiveros said ZestAir suffered sizeable losses as the airline paid for the tickets of affected passengers in other airlines that are more expensive as well as hotel accommodations.

She added that the airline is also facing heavy penalties from China and Korea for canceled flights after its AOC was revoked by CAAP last August.

Sources placed the initial losses at around $10 million excluding the penalties that would be imposed by other countries.

Hontiveros said AirAsia Philippines needs to shore up its resources, pump in additional investments and improve the operations of ZestAir.

“I intend to shore up resources to be able to support the operations of ZestAir. We intend to pump in additional investments into ZestAir,” she said but refused to divulge exact figures.

Earlier, she said AirAsia Philippines is looking at increasing its current 49 percent stake in ZestAir.

AirAsia Philippines and ZestAir are expected to launch a rebranded airline in the next two months.

亚航将考虑在郑州开设新航线

大河报

马来西亚亚洲航空公司首席执行官艾琳·奥玛尔（Aireen

　　马来西亚亚洲航空公司首席执行官艾琳·奥玛尔（Aireen Omar）女士正在接受本报记者的专访

核心提示 | 9月13日，2013夏季达沃斯论坛进入最后一天，但各国嘉宾的讨论热情丝毫未减。

经过7年的融合，夏季达沃斯已经成为观察中国经济和政策动向的重要窗口。本届年会传播出了对中国经济信心的强烈信号。

在今年夏季达沃斯的最后一天，本报记者专访了亚洲航空CEO Aireen Omar女士，她对郑州航空港建设的历史机遇与河南1亿人口支撑的巨大市场高度关注，明确表示将考虑在郑州开设新航线。

在国家持续开放和扩大内需的政策背景下，河南正显示出巨大的发展潜力和吸引力。

本报特派记者 董畅岩 傅豪 文图

中国已成亚航最重要市场

亚航战略重点将向中部、北部转移

想出国旅行？先上亚航网站抢一元机票！以超低机票价格著称的亚洲航空，已经成为众多中国旅行爱好者和“穷游族”的心头之爱。

昨天上午，本报记者在大连国际会议中心独家专访了前来参加2013夏季达沃斯的马来西亚亚洲航空公司首席执行官艾琳·奥玛尔（Aireen Omar）女士。

作为全球著名的低成本航空公司，奥玛尔不仅对于郑州航空港国家战略高度关注，并且对拥有1亿人口的河南市场十分重视。

“众所周知，亚洲航空公司是世界上最优秀的低成本航空公司，而中国现已俨然成为亚航最重要的市场之一。”奥玛尔告诉记者，目前，亚洲航空集团 自各分公司的航空枢纽飞往中国内陆12个城市的17条航线，覆盖了中国的东南西北中，已形成了较为广阔的航运网络。2013年，亚航的计划是在踏实做好已 开通航线市场的同时，稳步地开通更多新航线。尤其是在中国中部和大北方，还存在很大潜力,因为此前亚航在中国的布局多集中在中国南部地区。

高度重视郑州航空港机遇

亚航将考虑在郑州开设新航线

“郑州航空港综合经济实验区，是全国首个上升为国家战略的航空港经济发展先行区。”听到记者的这番介绍，奥玛尔表示出强烈的兴趣。

她仔细向记者“打探”了河南和郑州地区的情况：“中部六省都是哪些省份？有何特点？”当听到记者介绍河南有1亿人，而中原经济区涵盖的总人数更是高达1.8亿人的时候，她当即表示，这是亚航非常重要的大市场。她还饶有兴致地向记者询问“郑州”两字怎么写。

“我们一直在中国大陆寻找适合与马来西亚、泰国等亚洲国家建立航线的城市，听起来郑州很合适。”她表示，将派团队来郑州考察相关情况，并把在郑州开设国际航线提上时间表。

同为内地城市，目前，亚航开设的成都直飞吉隆坡的航线已经增加到每天一班，并且上座率非常高。

杭州等城市也有亚航开辟的往返于沙巴等热门旅游目的地的航线，价格最低往返仅几百元。

毫无疑问，如果亚航来郑州开设航线，不仅将大大降低中原地区居民出境旅行的成本，并且其以低价著称的机票也将为郑州航空港聚集大量人气
郑州建设航空港 陆地交通优势很重要

在记者问及对郑州建设航空港、河南发展航空经济有何建议时，奥玛尔表示，首先希望机场对于航线和航空公司的收费更有吸引力，不要太高，这点对于低成本航空公司来说很重要。

其次，她认为，任何一个航空枢纽都应有很好的陆路交通基础相配套，人们飞到郑州能够方便地搭乘陆路交通去他接下来想去的地方。

然后就是整个航空港应该有很方便和人性化的换乘设计和配套设施；同时，她认为，航空港的管理效率非常重要，例如行李提取的速度等，这点是决定航空港接待能力的关键。

AirAsia PH suspends most flights out of Clark, rationalizes routes after Zest Air acquisition

MANILA – (UPDATE 2, 6:52 p.m.) The Philippine unit of Southeast Asia’s largest budget airline will suspend all of its local and regional flights out of Clark.

According to a source, AirAsia Philippines flights to Davao, Kalibo, Hong Kong and Taipei from Clark will be suspended starting November.

However, Hong Kong and Taipei flights will resume by December, the source said.

Sought for comment, Marianne Hontiveros, chief executive of Air Asia Inc, confirmed that the airline will suspend Kalibo and Davao flights effective October 9, with the last flight scheduled on October 8. For Taipei and Hong Kong, AirAsia Philippines will stop operations on November 6.

“We will resume our operation to Hong Kong on December 20 to January 5,” Hontiveros however said, adding that Taipei flights will remain suspended because of weak demand.

“The reason for the suspension is that we need to support Zest Air financially,” she said.

Hontiveros said Zest Air incurred “significant losses” after the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) suspended its operations last month because of safety concerns. Losses reached P70 million a day, or about P280 million during the four-day suspension, she said.

Hontiveros said AirAsia Philippines will seek financial support from Air Asia Malaysia to prop up Zest Air.

She said affected passengers for the Davao, Kalibo, Taipei and Hong Kong flights can either refund or rebook on a later date using Zest Air.

Hontiveros said no AirAsia employee would be terminated.

Manila hub

Wyrlou Samodio, Civil Aeronautics Board head for legal affairs, said AirAsia Philippines informed the government of the planned suspension.

“We want to make sure that there’s a contingency,” Samodio said.

He said the airline wants to put up a hub in Manila, adding that AirAsia owner Tony Fernandes revealed his plans to President Benigno Aquino III and Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya during a courtesy call earlier this year.

AirAsia Philippines last March forged a partnership with Zest Air, allowing the former, which operates out of Clark, to gain access to the latter’s slots at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

AirAsia Philippines holds an 85 percent economic stake and a 49 percent voting stake in Zest Air while the latter owns a 15 percent stake in the former.

AirAsia Group owns 40 percent of Philippines AirAsia. The remaining 60 percent is held by Hontiveros, Michael Romero, Antonio Cojuangco and Alfredo Yao.

Zest Air and AirAsia has sought Civil Aeronautics Board approval of a plan to allow cross-selling of flights.

Think-tank Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said in a report that the outlook for Air Asia’s Philippine unit is likely to improve once its operation is consolidated with Zest Air.

“Zest changes the outlook for Philippines AirAsia considerably, particularly if the two carriers are able to fully integrate their operations,” CAPA said.

A single brand and product across the Philippine market, including both Manila and Clark, “should improve AirAsia’s position in the Philippines,” the report said.