AirAsia launches e-hailing services

AirAsia has at long last launched their very own e-hailing services “Airasia Ride” as the frequent travel bans caused by the pandemic continues to strangle the airline industry.

The e-hailing service is can be found on the Airasia app along with the various other services such as food and grocery delivery.

CEO of AirAsia Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said the group is also planning to roll out the (e-hailing) service in other countries including Thailand and Indonesia.

“There are two phases of rollout with Malaysia as the first followed by ASEAN rollout”, said Tan Sri Tony. “We will be very strong in the airports and in the tourism markets. People who like our ecosystem will begin to use us”, he told reporters at a virtual press conference on Tuesday, describing the ride-hailing industry as a “zero-sum game” and that it was very important to prioritize the safety of customers and the wellbeing of drivers.

CEO of the Airasia Super App Amanda Woo stated that Airasia ride drivers would not only focus on moving people but also moving packages and food.

“There is also the potential for Airasia ride to integrate with Teleport, our logistics arm to complement the logistics and delivery services, tapping into the same pool of drivers for maximum efficiency and cost savings, apart from synergizing with our e-commerce verticals, supplementing our existing last-mile delivery capabilities with greater capacity and reach”, Amanda added.

At present, Airasia ride has about 1,500 registered drivers and expect 5,000 more to come on board in the next six months.

Last November, AirAsia began their journey in the food delivery industry as Airasia Food in order to diversify their revenues after the airline group was severely affected by the travel bans due to the pandemic, along with movement restrictions.

AirAsia recently acquired Malaysian online food delivery platform DeliverEat for US$9.8mil (RM41.4mil) to further strengthen the group’s digital plan to cover the end-to-end logistics chain and e-commerce scene.

Last month, the company announced that it had acquired Gojeck’s operation in Thailand for US$50mil (RM211.3mil).

Source: The Star

Image source: paultan.org