AirAsia/Capital A:
The Power of Imagination — February 2024

AirAsia should have everything going for it. It is based in a region of relatively high traffic growth, competing with a handful of somewhat moribund (with one or two exceptions) flag-carriers. It is a genuine Ultra Low Cost Carrier (ULCC): prepandemic it could boast one of the lowest unit costs in the world at 2.2US¢/ASK ex-fuel.

Launched in 2002 by Tony Fernandes and his business partner Kamarudin Meranun, it grew strongly: in 2019 it carried 83m passengers at a load factor of 85% and had a combined fleet of 246 A320s (with 362 on order and plans to double the fleet over ten years). In 2023, still recovering from the pandemic it carried 57m.