AirAsia Group head honcho Tony Fernandes is still set on spreading his wings as far as they can go, and is now looking at setting up a budget private jet chartering service in the region.
Speaking to the Bangkok Post‘s Boonsong Kositchotethana, Thai AirAsia CEO Tassapon Bijleveld said Fernandes plans to set up a new business model offering “affordability and accessibility” to the private jet chartering market, similar to that popularised by the AirAsia concept in commercial air travel.
“The cost of travelling by private jet today is exorbitant, and Mr Fernandes wants to bring it down to a more appropriate level so it can be affordable to a broader range of travellers,” Tassapon said.
The use of private or corporate jets currently costs travellers up to USD10,000 (RM32,200) an hour.
The planned private jet business was being “conceptualised”, Tassapon said, with corporate and leisure travellers who find existing charter fees excessive forming the main target market.
The venture would not operate as part of the AirAsia brand or Thai AirAsia, according to Tassapon, but would instead be an extension of the Tune Group, headed by Fernandes and his corporate partner Kamarudin Meranun.
The tentative name for the service is Tune Jet, renamed from the previously-planned Caterham Jet which shuttered when Fernandes sold off his ownership in the Caterham Formula One racing team.
Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Singapore are candidates for Tune Jet operation bases, which are aiming to go live in one or two years’ time.
