More investment and job opportunities for Filipinos as Capital A's Tony Fernandes sees robust growth for AirAsia Philippines.
Capital A Chief Executive Tan Sri Tony Fernandes is planning to pour more investments in the Philippines in line with AirAsia Philippines' short- and long-term goals.
"I am excited to put in more investments in the Philippines. We have a great logistics business coming - Teleport Philippines, which we think will be great for e-commerce providers in the Philippines to sell their goods all over," Fernandes said during a recent visit in Manila.
The Capital A CEO said he is looking at an aircraft maintenance business which would create more job opportunities for Filipinos. "We want to build an engineering company here, on top of Lufthansa Technik's. We would like to bring ADE (Asia Digital Engineering), which is really a fantastic engineering company."
He added that ADE is the engineering arm of Capital A focused on providing heavy maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services for the group's commercial aircraft.
As part of its post-pandemic recovery strategy, the airline, which continues to receive accolades from various consumer-ratings organizations, is seeking to initiate major changes across its Philippine operations.
With local e-commerce and engineering operations as the key drivers for Capital A’s thrust, the airline would also expand its Philippine fleet to sustain opportunities for domestic and international flights.
"Leisure, migration workforce, and SME travel currently comprise pent-up demand for air travel. Eighty percent of AirAsia's South East Asia traffic consists of shorter trips and low-cost travel. With this, we'd like to further connect the Philippines to other ASEAN destinations," Fernandes added.
The CEO also said that boosting recruitment would complement these major business undertakings in the next few months.
He said hiring an additional 1,000 employees would support AirAsia Philippines' expansion in the next three years on top of the 6,000 jobs to be generated with the introduction of Capital A's ride-hailing business in the Philippines.
"My priorities were to survive, to bring back people, and recruit more people. Our biggest asset actually is people. People are smart here, people are hardworking, and they have a wonderful personality. So for us, we will grow all four lines of Capital A in the Philippines," Fernandes said.
Last week, AirAsia Philippines, the world's best low-cost airline, opened its doors for cabin crew applicants. The next leg of the cabin crew recruitment for Q3 2023 is scheduled on June 26, 2023.
Tags: #tonyfernandes, #moreinvestments, #aircraftmaintenance, #createmorejobs, #airasiaph