KUALA LUMPUR: Marking its 17th year, the AirAsia Group is now charting its course into the digital realm.

In The Edge’s cover story this week titled “Remaking Asia’s biggest budget airline”, AirAsia’s co-founder and group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes spoke to assistant editor Khairie Hisyam Aliman on his new mission for the group: transforming the group into a digital business.

A key piece in the budget airline’s plan is the data it already has. Last year, AirAsia flew 65.5 million passengers and has over 33 million unique passenger profiles based on flown data.

The plan is to monetize these data to drive the group’s ancillary revenue growth. In other words, AirAsia wants to step up the sale of products and services other than just airline seats.

The group has already revamped its online duty-free store and rolled out a digital wallet called BigPay and loyalty programme Big Loyalty.

While parts of the digital efforts are already in place, the plan is still a work in progress.

“I don’t have a full answer yet,” Fernandes said, but he has an idea where he would like the group to be in the future. 

What is the rationale for AirAsia’s digitalisation move and will it succeed?

Read all about it in the latest issue of The Edge.  

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