Malaysia's Capital A could list aviation arm when conditions are right: Tony Fernandes

Kuala Lumpur

CAPITAL A, the company that owns Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia, has established an independent board of directors for its aviation business, with telecoms veteran Jamaludin Ibrahim named as non-executive chairman of AirAsia Aviation Group Limited.

All companies under the group will be managed independently and this includes the airline, said Capital A group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes at a virtual press conference on Friday (Feb 11).

The plan is to eventually list the aviation arm when the time is right he added.

"I think that's up to the board at the right time when they think they need to list and raise capital independently, but definitely from Capital A's perspective, that is very much the plan," he said.

On AirAsia's outlook for the year, Fernandes said the airline is now flying about 45 per cent of its 200-strong fleet, and intends to grow its Indonesian fleet from the current 7 to 30 by the end of the year.

He said the focus will be on expanding the number of domestic flights in Indonesia despite the emergence of several new players in South-east Asia's largest economy, among them Super Air Jet and TransNusa.

"Airlines will come and go, but my role is not to comment on the new airlines but to focus on being the best. As long as we are good at what we do, we will always have a market share. We are not overly concerned about competition," said Fernandes.

He noted that AirAsia is looking at developing some routes out of key Indonesian destinations such as Lombok.

"We now have a strong enough management team in Indonesia to be a significant player in that country," he said.

Outside of the aviation business, Capital A is also making a big push into Indonesia's food delivery market with AirAsia Food later this year.

The foray into Indonesia will see it go up against established players such as GoFood, GrabFood and new entrant ShopeeFood.

Last month, Capital A made headlines when it was tagged as a "financially distressed" company after its failure to secure an extension of relief period from Bursa Malaysia.

It is now busy coming up with a plan to regularise its financial condition.