AirAsia X (AAX) has made key changes to its senior management team as
the company prepares for the next phase of
growth as a mid-range airline.
Tony Fernandes, who was recently
appointed as Acting Group CEO in addition to his position as a
Non-Independent, Non-Executive Director of AAX, has stepped down
from his senior leadership positions with AAX, while Tunku Dato’
Mahmood Fawzy has been appointed as the Independent Non-Executive
Director of Thai AirAsia X (TAAX), effective immediately.
“I
went in with a clear mandate to restart AirAsia X and bring it
back to life from hibernation,” said Tony Fernandes. “I am happy that this has been
accomplished with a very edifying plan for 20 aircraft for the AAX
Group – 13 for AAX and 7 for Thai AAX. After the
excellent job led by Lim Kian Onn on the restructuring, my job was
to bring the airline back to profitability and growth. We have
improved the cost structure, and created the cargo business, which
has contributed about 20% to the airline’s revenue during the
pandemic and will continue to play a vital role in the recovery of
AAX. I am confident that AAX will come back stronger
providing a great value mid-range travel, led by the senior
leadership teams in Malaysia and Thailand. I’m now going to focus
on delivering significant value to shareholders of Capital A,
including the AirAsia Aviation Group, aviation services, logistics, travel, fintech and the e-commerce lifestyle platform.”
Tunku Dato’ Mahmood Fawzy will
now focus on overseeing the strategic direction and driving
sustainable growth for the medium-haul airline group – AAX and
TAAX.
“I am thrilled to
join the TAAX board of directors as the group embarks on our new
phase of growth as a predominantly mid-range airline. Our strategy
is to focus on flying our most popular and profitable medium haul
routes first, which have proven to be successful in the past
including leveraging cargo operations in key markets,” said Tunku Dato’ Mahmood Fawzy. “In just a short period of six
months, AAX has already increased its cash flow by over 100% compared to when it restarted in April, with robust plans to
continue this positive trajectory moving forward. To cater
to the overwhelming consumer demand, the AAX Group has added a
significant number of new services for both Malaysia based AAX
(D7) and Thailand based TAAX (XJ) over recent times with many more
in the pipeline.”
