News
AirAsia Myanmar a “no-go”
May 18th 2018
Malaysia’s AirAsia Group has ceased negotiations with potential joint venture partners in Myanmar, meaning the launch of AirAsia Myanmar will not go ahead as announced in March, AirAsia Group CEO, Tony Fernandes, said at an event in Bangkok this week. Read More »
“We are not moving ahead with Myanmar at the moment. We might revisit that, but we’ve decided not to go into Myanmar just yet,” Fernandes was quoted by Reuters. The AirAsia boss did not disclose details of the cancelled venture.
At an ASEAN conference in Sydney in March, Fernandes said: “It’s not going to be a big airline there [Myanmar], because the airport infrastructure is not there. But it is 50 million people and it will develop over time,” adding the joint venture partner identified “already had a good airline that we’ve known for a long time and he is a well-respected guy”.
Myanmar’s largest airlines are Myanmar National Airlines (19 aircraft), Air KBZ (11 aircraft) and Myanmar Airways International (four A320 Family jets). In 2017, Japan’s ANA HOLDINGS INC. dropped plans to establish a Myanmar joint venture, Asian Blue Aviation, after authorities rejected its application for an air operator’s certificate (AOC).
The AirAsia Group has announced new AirAsia subsidiaries for Cambodia, China and Vietnam. These would go ahead as planned, Fernandes said.
