<p><em>By Kok Leong Chan and Joy Lee</em></p><p>Malaysia’s Capital A Bhd, which operates budget carrier AirAsia, will hive off its aviation business to its long-haul affiliate as the group seeks to streamline its operations and gain better access to financing. </p><p>The company entered into a non-binding offer to sell its Malaysian airline unit and AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd — which consists of its subsidiaries in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Cambodia — to AirAsia X Bhd. </p><p>Shares of AirAsia X climbed as much as 7.3 per cent after the announcement, while Capital A rose more than 4 per cent before paring gains.</p><p>The restructuring comes as Capital A seeks to put forward a regularization plan to exit its financially distressed status — a classification that the company has had in the wake of the pandemic. The company has sought time until June to submit a plan to Malaysia’s stock exchange in a bid to uplift its status. </p>.India's Vistara confident of receiving Boeing 787 order by April.<p>“We need to raise funds for business expansion, but gaining access to capital has been challenging,” said Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes. “To address this and to ensure a robust financial injection, we are strategically pursuing the sale of the aviation business to AAX to create an aviation pure play, consolidating both long and short-haul airlines under the AirAsia brand.”</p><p>The group also named two deputy CEOs for the budget carrier as part of its corporate restructuring. </p><p>Chester Voo will take up the role of deputy chief executive officer in charge of the airline operations, the company said in a statement Monday. The company named former banker Farouk Kamal as deputy CEO, whose responsibilities include finance, aircraft leasing, investor relations and strategy.</p><p>The separation of the airline business from Capital A will also allow investors to better value the non-aviation unit. Fernandes aims to have five listed companies under the group, he said at a briefing in Sepang, Malaysia.</p><p>Despite growing revenue, Capital A — which also has digital and logistics business — posted a net loss in the third quarter of 2023. Passenger traffic has recovered to about 78 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, the company said Monday. </p><p>It expects its capacity to rebound to 83 per cent of pre-pandemic levels by the end of this quarter and further recover. It will open routes from Kuala Lumpur to Africa this year, Fernandes said.</p><p>The group plans to have a fleet of 33 planes by 2028.</p>
<p><em>By Kok Leong Chan and Joy Lee</em></p><p>Malaysia’s Capital A Bhd, which operates budget carrier AirAsia, will hive off its aviation business to its long-haul affiliate as the group seeks to streamline its operations and gain better access to financing. </p><p>The company entered into a non-binding offer to sell its Malaysian airline unit and AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd — which consists of its subsidiaries in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Cambodia — to AirAsia X Bhd. </p><p>Shares of AirAsia X climbed as much as 7.3 per cent after the announcement, while Capital A rose more than 4 per cent before paring gains.</p><p>The restructuring comes as Capital A seeks to put forward a regularization plan to exit its financially distressed status — a classification that the company has had in the wake of the pandemic. The company has sought time until June to submit a plan to Malaysia’s stock exchange in a bid to uplift its status. </p>.India's Vistara confident of receiving Boeing 787 order by April.<p>“We need to raise funds for business expansion, but gaining access to capital has been challenging,” said Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes. “To address this and to ensure a robust financial injection, we are strategically pursuing the sale of the aviation business to AAX to create an aviation pure play, consolidating both long and short-haul airlines under the AirAsia brand.”</p><p>The group also named two deputy CEOs for the budget carrier as part of its corporate restructuring. </p><p>Chester Voo will take up the role of deputy chief executive officer in charge of the airline operations, the company said in a statement Monday. The company named former banker Farouk Kamal as deputy CEO, whose responsibilities include finance, aircraft leasing, investor relations and strategy.</p><p>The separation of the airline business from Capital A will also allow investors to better value the non-aviation unit. Fernandes aims to have five listed companies under the group, he said at a briefing in Sepang, Malaysia.</p><p>Despite growing revenue, Capital A — which also has digital and logistics business — posted a net loss in the third quarter of 2023. Passenger traffic has recovered to about 78 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, the company said Monday. </p><p>It expects its capacity to rebound to 83 per cent of pre-pandemic levels by the end of this quarter and further recover. It will open routes from Kuala Lumpur to Africa this year, Fernandes said.</p><p>The group plans to have a fleet of 33 planes by 2028.</p>