AirAsia X targets air cargo revenue with bellyspace deal
14 / 02 / 2022
Photo: AirAsia
AirAsia X (AAX) has secured full belly space utilisation for one third of its widebody A330-300 fleet as it strives to boost its air cargo revenue.
Teleport, the logistics venture of Capital A (formerly AirAsia Group), will use the additional capacity from AAX for an initial period of one year.
AAX is the medium haul, low-cost affiliate of the AirAsia Group and operating an all widebody A330-300 fleet. In 2021, the airline was successfully restructured and is now relaunching service as a combination carrier with equal emphasis on both cargo and passengers. The company aims to boost its regional presence by working in partnership with global freight forwarders.
It recently announced a strategic partnership with global logistics leader GEODIS, to mount several weekly dedicated cargo flights throughout Asia Pacific for an extended period.
CEO of AAX, Benyamin Ismail said: “We are also in discussions with several other major global clients that have air cargo requirements, particularly to where we have established bases and flying rights. It’s just two months post our restructuring and the appetite for expansion of our cargo operations is significant.
“This dovetails neatly into one of the core pillars of our combination carrier strategy. For the foreseeable future, cargo revenue will underpin our route strategy and passenger revenue for the first time, will be ancillary.”
Captain Suresh Kumar Bangah, COO of AAX, explained: “We will only fly if it’s profitable to fly. With our restructured low cost base, we can fly profitably where other airlines may not be able to and this is a significant advantage to us. We intend to add a further one plane a month to full service from now and we hope to have our full fleet operational by the end of third quarter.”
COO of Teleport, Adrian Loretz added: “We are happy to work closer with AAX on their A330 fleet as an integral cargo carrier. In addition to our dedicated 737-800 freighter, the added A330 aircraft from AAX allows us to provide more capacity access for our customers to serve the demand in the region while operating from our main hubs in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.
“In 2022, we are looking at strengthening our fleet and adding more prime destinations into our scheduled network with extensive coverage in Southeast Asia and beyond – coupled with the wide coverage and high frequency from our existing AirAsia passenger flights’ capacity.”
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