Capital A to have all 204 planes back in operation by first half of 2023

By Siti Noor Afera Abu PHNOM PENH, Dec 9 (Bernama) -- Capital A Bhd, which grounded its planes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, aims to have all of its 204 planes back in operation by the first half of next year. Chief executive officer Tony Fernandes said that this year is about restarting operation to bring it back to the pre-pandemic level. “The last three years have been about survival. We don’t talk about growth in 2022. From the second half of 2023, we are going to start growing,” he told the Malaysian media after AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd (AAAGL) and Cambodia-based Sivilai Asia inked a joint-venture agreement to establish a new airline, AirAsia Cambodia, here Friday. The joint-venture company, in which AAAGL holds a 51 per cent stake, is expected to commence operations in late 2023. AAAGL operates five routes to Cambodia, namely from Kuala Lumpur to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, from Penang to Phnom Penh (to start Jan 3, 2023), as well as from Bangkok (Don Mueang) to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. The group will train local Cambodians to work with the new airline. Fernandes stated that one of the critical components of any airline is to start training local people. “If you see AirAsia up to this point, we have never had a labour shortage. But the shortage we are facing at the moment is in the handling of cargo. “Because our cargo has grown so much, there’s not enough (manpower) and we need to expand that area,” he said. Commenting on the recession, he said that he is not worried about the challenges after the COVID-19 pandemic. He said people would rather spend money on travelling short haul, and they will probably travel on low-cost carriers. “So we will create demand, not worry about high fuel (cost), (and) as far as we can, make people fly,” he added. -- BERNAMA