This was learned from AirAsia Philippines Director Alfredo M. Yao, who said the prospect of launching flights to Europe is part of the long-term plans of Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd. for its Philippine unit.
“They are looking at introducing flights to Europe, but those flights will be under the long-haul unit, AirAsia X,” he told the BusinessMirror.
The Philippine unit’s CEO, he added, went to Europe last month to check on the operation of AirAsia X.
AirAsia Philippines CEO Joy D. Cañeba was also present during the first days of the European Union’s (EU) assessment of the safety oversight system of the regulator and local carriers.
The five-man team will stay in the country until April 24, and will thoroughly review each airline on the list of banned carriers to fly to Europe.
The delegation will also assess the capabilities of the air-safety regulator. The safety assessment visit to the Philippines seeks to confirm that the government has successfully addressed the root cause of previous areas of safety concerns and was able to conduct effective oversight of air carriers certified in the Philippines.
Yao said he is hopeful that the result of the assessment will be in favor toward his group.
“As far as our group is concerned, we always meet the safety standards required by the European Union,” he said.
The 28-member bloc placed the Philippines on the aviation blacklist in 2010, after the then-Air Transportation Office was demoted by the US Federal Aviation Administration from Category 1 to Category 2 status in 2008. The country regained the highest status in April last year.
Currently, only flag-carrier Philippine Airlines and low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific are out of the list of airlines that fail to meet international aviation standards.
The expansion is also part of the company’s plans of listing at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) sometime next year.
It plans to go public in order to raise fresh capital and further expand its network in the Philippines.
Aside from its problem in slots, AirAsia Philippines also needs more money to further bolster its fleet and services. Thus, the carrier will be seeking public investors’ support to upgrade its operations.
AirAsia bigwig Tony Fernandes announced that the Philippine unit of his giant airline company is ripe to launch an initial public offering at the PSE.
Making a debut at the local bourse requires a company to post profits for three consecutive years.
She declined to give an exact amount for the capital raising, but said the money will be used to expand the airline’s capacity by adding more planes and further widening its network of routes.