AirAsia changes name to Capital A as it grows beyond an airline
Malaysia's AirAsia Group Bhd said on Friday (Jan 28) it had
finalised the name change of its listed holding company to Capital A Bhd as it
seeks market recognition of its growing portfolio of businesses beyond the core
budget airline.
The company's airline business has been hard-hit during the
pandemic due to strict travel rules in Asia, leading Malaysia's stock exchange
to this month classify the firm as financially distressed though it has been
raising funds to bolster its balance sheet.
Capital A has been investing heavily in payments business
BigPay, logistics arm Teleport and its mobile Super App to gain other sources
of revenue, though they remain in growth phases and were loss-making in the
quarter ended Sep 30, 2021.
"Over the past two years we have spent the downturn in
flying building a solid foundation for a viable and successful future, which is
not solely reliant on airfares alone," Capital A chief executive Tony
Fernandes said in a statement.
The airline business will retain the AirAsia brand, which is
well known in Asia, he added.
The carrier on Thursday reported it filled 80 percent of
seats on offer in the fourth quarter of 2021 and had the highest number of
passengers since the start of the pandemic as travel rules began to ease.
"Domestic travel has already started to rebound in our
key markets," Fernandes said. "I am hopeful borders will reopen
gradually throughout 2022 and we will see a return to normal capacity for our
international services by the middle to the third quarter of this year."
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