AirAsia Ride leased 100 air taxis for new e-hailing business; KLIA to KL Sentral in 11 minutes
Jerrica Ā· Feb 17, 2022 02:15 PM
0
0
The ride-sharing business in Southeast Asia is about to change as AirAsia is ready to introduce electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircrafts into their AirAsia Ride system. The budget airline giant has reportedly leased 100 Vertical Aerospace VX4 eVTOL aircrafts from company Avolon for the purpose.
The announcement came from Capital A Berhad’s (the new name for AirAsia’s parent group) CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes’ Instagram post yesterday (16-February-2022).
Vertical Aerospace VX1 eVTOL
According to a report by Astro Awani, the group signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ireland-based leasing group Avolon.
Through the MOU, the companies will work together to launch commercial operations of four-passenger eVTOL models, with passengers booking flights using the AirAsia app.
For now, both companies are planning to form a working group to pursue local approvals for the aircraft, conduct market research, and evaluate infrastructure requirements.
Both companies expect the new ride-sharing method to go into service by 2025.
The VX4 is an eVTOL created by Vertical Aerospace that has a top speed of 321 km/h and has over 161 km of range.
“We are now much more than just an airline with over 20 products and services on our super app leveraging off each other, including flights, hotels, food, retail, delivery, ride-hailing, and more,” commented AirAsia Aviation Group CEO Tony Fernandes. “I am truly excited about this partnership between Avolon and AirAsia and thrilled to be the launch airline for the aircraft in Southeast Asia.”
There isnāt a time in memory that doesnāt involve staring at cars. After discovering the excitement of watching Schumacher vs Hakkinen, Formula 1 became a major part of life. The love for cars and F1 ultimately led to a job with CAR Magazine. The untimely death of the magazine meant a hiatus from cars at lifestyle womenās magazine Marie Claire before another opportunity came knocking again.
