Malaysian budget airline AirAsia Group Bhd. said it is seeking to launch a flying-taxi business as soon as next year. “We are working on that right now,” Tony Fernandes, the company’s chief executive officer and co-founder, said Saturday. “I think we are about a year and a half away from launching.” Fernandes was speaking in an online discussion as part of the Youth Economic Forum. With the airline business taking a hit from the coronavirus pandemic, AirAsia has been expanding in the digital space. It launched a “super app” last year that offers services from travel and shopping to logistics and financial services.
AirAsia explores urban drone deliveries, to offer new, high-tech jobs
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KUALA LUMPUR (March 6): AirAsia Group Bhd, via its logistics arm Teleport, is partnering with the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC) the lead secretariat of the National Technology and Innovation Sandbox (NTIS) to launch the Urban Drone Delivery Sandbox and develop long-term viability of urban drone delivery services.
In a statement today, the low-cost carrier said the pilot project for the delivery of goods from AirAsia’s e-commerce platforms including airasia shop using automated drones is set to be carried out via a six-month phased approach at the third NTIS test site in Cyberjaya.
The service, which is currently in the testing stage with two local drone operators, VStream Revolution Sdn Bhd and Meraque Services Sdn Bhd, will be deployed upon a successful trial phase and might be expanded beyond the sandbox environment.
06 Mar 2021 / 17:11 H. Pix for representational purpose only.
KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Group Bhd is recovering well from the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the aviation industry, having seized the opportunity to relook at opportunities that it had not been able to do earlier and accelerated its digital transformation, said group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.
The group saw the situation as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to recharge its business, and started to focus on Asean, relook at its cost structure and do away with businesses that did not make sense, he said.
“With the digital platforms such as the super app, fintech and food business going pretty well, we are now at the end of the tunnel and excited on the diversified businesses that are coming in,” he said at the Youth Economic Forum (YEF) 2021 during a virtual session titled “Road to Recovery: Turning Crisis Into Opportunity”.
AirAsia targets launch of flying-taxi business in 2022, CEO says
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Last Updated: Mar 06, 2021, 02:38 PM IST
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“We are working on that right now,” Tony Fernandes, the company’s chief executive officer and co-founder, said Saturday. “I think we are about a year and a half away from launching.”
Fernandes was speaking in an online discussion as part of the Youth Economic Forum.
Malaysian budget airline AirAsia Group Bhd. said it is seeking to launch a flying-taxi business as soon as next year.
“We are working on that right now,” Tony Fernandes, the company’s chief executive officer and co-founder, said Saturday. “I think we are about a year and a half away from launching.”
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