KUALA LUMPUR - There’s no end in sight to the high airfares that are a mainstay of the world’s post-pandemic travel boom, according to Asia’s biggest low-cost carrier.
“My load factor is around 90 per cent – this was unheard of pre-Covid,” Lingam, 59, said in an interview at the company’s headquarters in Sepang, Malaysia. For AirAsia, the demand is underpinning ambitions to establish the world’s first low-cost carrier network by 2030, using its Southeast Asia bases as a hub. So far this year that’s seen it add flights to Almaty in Kazakhstan and the start of operations by its Cambodian unit. Next up will be to start flying to Nairobi, Kenya, from October.
“The cost of operating the aircraft is much cheaper – at least 25 per cent to 30 per cent cheaper – because it’s single aisle and you don’t need to worry about filling up 500 seats, as opposed to 240 seats,” Lingam said.