Malaysia-based budget behemoth AirAsia is in talks with a potential partner to open a new airline that will serve Myanmar, CEO Tony Fernandes told Reuters yesterday on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Sydney.
“We had a good meeting with someone in Sydney – he’s got a good airline that we’ve known for a long time and he is a well-respected guy. We’re going through that process,” Fernandes said, without naming the potential partner.
He added: “It’s not going to be a big airline there, because the airport infrastructure is not there. But it is 50 million people and it will develop over time.”
As of July 2017, Myanmar was served by 10 domestic airlines with a total of 58 planes. Domestic flights are notoriously expensive, at least in part due to high taxes and gas prices. On top of that, international travelers are charged as much as twice the price of a ticket for a local traveler.
AirAsia already has businesses in Malaysia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, and Thailand. In addition to the plans for Myanmar, the company expects to launch an airline in Vietnam in October and, eventually, in China.
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