Despite volatile petrol prices and international currency fluctuations, Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia’s parent company Capital A, stated that the outlook for aviation is still beneficial due to “extremely solid” demand.
Fernandes says that pandemic battles had necessitated a program for” surviving”, which included setting up transportation, architectural and online groups. He presently sees good longer-term effects from the upheaval for both AirAsia and the aircraft sector, noting that both carriers have been reporting document income.
” I think we now have the best time in aviation”, he said.
According to Fernandes,” America went through many ups and downs and a lot of merger… Europe went through the same thing, there were many state-owned carriers that threw a lot of valuations out by ridiculous prices, or state subsidies,” according to Fernandes.
” ASEAN was in that place because a lot of state-owned flights were being subsidized, throwing fares, and being careless. Everyone has been taught a lesson by Vid. So there’s a benefit to me in that we now have a moral market.
He claimed that with the exception of five to six years, airline capacity is unlikely to change because fares had increased by 30 % and were n’t going to go down anytime soon. This is in part due to a delay in aviation orders that companies are having trouble catching up with.
” We have an advantage of a 400 plane order book, but many airlines do n’t have that. If you buy a plane now you wo n’t get one till 2031″, he said.
Fernandes claimed AirAsia had been “lucky” as Airbus ‘ sole buyer in the continuing turbulence with its 737 Max aircraft, but that he still believed the US airline manufacturer do” come out of it stronger.”
Potential Travel Styles
Fernandes stated in a new CNBC interview that he expects some rise in Chinese demand, but that the Indian market offers just as many, if not better, opportunities. Post- pandemic, Asian travelers are showing a taste for local journeys and even local ones — partly because of the present” militaristic” climate, he said.
He is, however, excited by the potential for new lengthy- range aircraft, especially Airbus’s A321 XLR, its lengthy- range, single- aisle plane.
It will enable us to develop a long-range, medium-haul, low-cost carrier capable of operating for 10 hours, Fernandes said.” That would fulfill our desire to have a narrow body capable of transporting you around the world, as opposed to a wide body, which is much more expensive.
” That would be a very exciting concept, creating an Emirates or a Qatar, but on narrow- body” .SOURCE: Asia’s Airline Guru on the Future of Air Travel BY: eTurboNews | eTN
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