AirAsia-Sats' new JV a fitting marriage

Singapore

WHEN the idea of a joint venture (JV) with ground-handler Sats was initially broached by his team, he almost fell off his chair, recounted AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes.

"I said, 'Are you mad?'" quipped the flamboyant chief of the low-cost airline group, which had previously shelved plans to set up a Singapore-based carrier after failing to get a licence.

Still, Mr Fernandes seems to have warmed up considerably to the idea of his first Singapore joint venture, which he described as a marriage between like-minded companies with a similar outlook on digitisation and Asean's aviation prospects. Wearing a Sats cap on his head, he said: "I think air travel is going to grow, especially in secondary and…