SEPANG (March 10): Capital A Bhd (CAPITALA) CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said Subang Airport should cater for private jets and high-paying travellers, citing economic viability as the reason for moving out of the airport with a three million annual passenger capacity.

He added that the airport was too small for the low-cost carrier's expansion plans.

“I think, honestly — Subang Airport should be a business airport. It should be for mass private jets and people who are prepared to pay more, like London City,” he said.

“We can't get the economic size by just having one flight to Singapore and back. We love Subang. I personally love it. But we have to put emotion aside and do what is the best for the company,” Fernandes told reporters at Capital A's strategic directions briefing following Bursa Malaysia's approval of its Practice Note 17 (PN17) plan on Monday.

Under the Subang Airport Regeneration Plan, Subang Airport will be upgraded to five million passengers annually in three to four years and up to eight million by 2030.

AirAsia's decision to opt out after seven months of Subang Airport's reopening was also driven by confidence that the Gateway Development Alliance Sdn Bhd (GDA) would support the company's long-term plans for a major hub at klia2, said Fernandes.

“But 100% we moved because we had confidence that GIP (Global Infrastructure Partners) will help us, or Gateway Development (GDA) will help us build this hub [at klia2],” he explained.

GDA is a consortium comprising Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the Employees Provident Fund Board (EPF), the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and BlackRock's GIP which took Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) private in a deal worth RM18.4 billion.

Moving forward, AirAsia will be shifting its full focus to KLIA2 to operate all its 224 aircrafts, said Fernandes.

“It is better to be focused on one place — better for the engineering team, better for marketing and et cetera,” he said.

AirAsia’s departure from Subang Airport leaves four airlines operating jets out of the airport: FireFly, Batik Air Malaysia, Transnusa, and Singapore’s Scoot Pte Ltd.

At the closing bell on Monday, shares of Capital A settled half a sen or 0.61% higher at 82.5 sen, valuing the group at RM3.57 billion. Year-to-date, Capital A’s stock is down 17.5%.

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