AirAsia sets up regional base in Jakarta

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Bhd has set up a regional base in Jakarta, called AirAsia Asean and it is restructuring its management to focus on its future growth plans as the low-cost carrier enters its second decade.

It said on Wednesday that AirAsia Asean would serve as the "nerve centre" of its regional expansion. "AirAsia Asean will also help us to ensure that our voice, our concerns and our appeals are heard much more clearly in the corridors of power within Asean," it said. The low-cost carrier said one reasons for locating the office in Jakarta was to help it engage more closely with the Asean Secretariat in Jakarta.

This August 2008 file picture shows ASEAN Secretary General, Dr Surin Pitsuwan [right] with invited guests arriving with AirAsia "Truly Asia" aircraft from Jakarta during the ASEAN day celebaration at the LCCT Terminal. - AZMAN GHANI/The Star

"Locating our regional base in Jakarta is also likely to have the beneficial effect of helping raise the profile and branding of AirAsia Indonesia, which is heading for a listing on the Jakarta Stock Exchange by the end of the year," it said. AirAsia Asean would provide it with an environment free of the pressures of day-to-day operations and allow the senior managers the space, the time and the interaction as it seeks to fly higher in its second decade.

AirAsia's group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said: "To avoid any misinterpretation, let me be very clear: AirAsia Malaysia's headquarters is not moving to Jakarta. "AirAsia Malaysia is a Malaysian-registered airline, with all its aircraft registered under the Malaysian flag and it is a company listed on Bursa Malaysia. That will not change."

-thestar online.