An airline selling the tickets of its competitors is an unheard practice. Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia Group Bhd is the carrier that has come up with the initiative as it transforms www.airasia.com into Asia Pacific’s leading travel and lifestyle platform. Kiwi.com, a leading travel technology company, is AirAsia’s partner in the venture. The travellers can now book tickets to destinations including Europe, Australia, Middle East, New Zealand, and the USA, on more than 100 airlines. Many of these destinations are not currently on AirAsia’s network offering. Kiwi.com has provided virtual interlining algorithm helping the passengers to club flights and ground transportation from over 750 carriers that otherwise cannot be combined.
Vast Network, Clubbed booking, and More
AirAsia will also begin partnering with the competitors directly to provide air services. In an announcement made in August regarding the reorganization of the company, AirAsia has said that it is separating its airline operations from its travel and lifestyle wing airasia.com. The group has appointed more than 700 employees for its lifestyle arm. A new airasia.com campus will be opened in central Kuala Lumpur early next year.
AirAsia.com to soon become a one-stop travel shop
According to AirAsia’s CEO Tony Fernandes, people can consider the new initiative as a part of AirAsia’s efforts to reinvent itself. The mission is to make AirAsia’s travel platform as a one-stop travel shop. AirAsia wants to launch a digital business that would bring massive revenue to the company, competing with giants like Amazon and Google, which have stepped foot into the travel sector.
Kiwi’s CEO Oliver Dlouhy has also expressed his happiness in partnering with AirAsia. He said that the company already has an abundance of airlines and ground carriers at its disposal, and the partnership with AirAsia would make it an enormous database. AirAsia has released an advertisement campaign to announce its transformation. The campaign features its airline wing.
