In October, we started to personalise our
communication with guests using data
analysis. This helped to increase the take-
up of a range of services – from inflight
food to duty-free.
Among our ancillary services, we were
especially pleased with Fly-Thru,
which is a key differentiator for AirAsia,
providing our guests an extensive network
that includes the routes of all country
operations as well as those of our sister
AirAsia X Group. During the year, Fly-Thru
for both AirAsia and AirAsia X Groups saw a
37% increase in take-up to 3.01 million. This
was aided by the addition of 497 new city
pairs, to total 1,845 routes. klia2 continued
to be the top transit hub, accounting for
85% of the overall Fly-Thru traffic, with
2.5 million guests passing through the
airport during the year. Meanwhile, our
operations in India saw the highest growth
in Fly-Thru traffic, its hubs in Bengaluru,
Kolkata and New Delhi accommodating a
677% increase in transit guests. Overall,
AirAsia and AirAsia X Groups recorded
RM204.1 million from Fly-Thru in 2017, and
we foresee higher uptakes in coming years
as we integrate our operations more fully
and efficiently.
As our digital transformation progresses,
we will be able to capture even more
data on our guests and use this for more
targeted up-sell and cross-sell of ancillary
products. Towards the end of the year,
we started using electronic point of sales
(ePOS) devices for inflight transactions,
and have integrated the data obtained onto
our centralised platform. This enhances
our guest profiles and will guide us in
serving them better. It also gives us the
confidence to target achieving RM60
in ancillary income per guest by 2020
from RM49 as at end 2017. Some say it is
ambitious, but we ‘dare to dream’.
ADJACENCY BUSINESSES
Adjacency businesses are those we have
established – mostly in partnership with
other companies, but some also on our
own steam – to generate income from our
assets and resources. A number of these
companies have begun to earn sizeable
revenue, prompting us to monetise them to
recognise their value. The process began
in 2015, when we disposed of 25% of our
equity in AirAsia Expedia, our online travel
85
%
of Fly-Thru guests transited
in Kuala Lumpur
3.01
MILLION GUES T S
in 2017, 37% more
than in 2016
677
%
increase in transit guests
in India in 2017
AIRASIA GROUP FLY-THRU
(Including AirAsia X Group)
company. The year 2017 was significant
as we took our monetisation programme a
notch higher.
In August, we concluded the sale of AACE,
the training company we had established
in 2011 with CAE International Holding
Ltd (CAE), to our Canadian partner for
USD100 million. This effectively gives CAE
full control over AACE’s training centres
in Sepang, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh
City – as well as its share of the Philippine
Academy of Aviation Training (PAAT), a
joint-venture between AACE and Cebu
Pacific, located in Manila. As our exclusive
training partner, CAE will continue to
provide the highest quality training of
pilots and cabin crew at agreed rates for
the entire Group until 2036.
[ ]
AirAsia Group Berhad
PERSPECTIVE
95