Airasia's Strategic Management
Case Study: AIRASIA
AirAsia was launched in 2002 by Tony Fernandes, at the time a pioneer of low-cost flights in Asia. At first, the company operated three Boeing 737s. In 2004, after a very successful public offering, AirAsia was listed on the Malaysian Stock Exchange and from there grew rapidly. As of 2011, the AirAsia Group has 93 aircraft spread across 12 hubs (see appendix 1) and is flying to more than 60 destinations in 16 countries with 130 domestic and international routes. AirAsia operates 3,500 flights every week on domestic and international routes from nine regional hubs in Malaysia, Thailand (Thai AirAsia) and Indonesia (Indonesia AirAsia). AirAsia’s head office and its main base is the Low Cost Carrier Terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. This terminal handles 48.4% of AirAsia’s traffic (see appendix 2). AirAsia is the leading low-cost carrier in the world and won the Skytrax award for World's Best Low-Cost Airline in 2009 and 2010. In addition, the company is Asia's largest low-fare, no-frills airline and has a long-haul arm, AirAsia X, which currently flies to China, India, Iran, Taiwan, the UK and Australia with plans to launch services to Japan and South Korea. This report will use the PESTEL framework to evaluate the opportunities and threats presented by AirAsia’s external environment. It will then apply a SWOT framework to analyse the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of the AirAsia group. Finally, this report will list three recommendations, to be evaluated by the AirAsia board of directors before implementation.
To begin, a PESTEL framework will enable us to understand all the macro-environmental factors affecting AirAsia. 1. Political
Opportunities
Deregulation and privatization present Air Asia with opportunities for new routes. For example, the ASEAN governments signed the ASEAN Multilateral Agreement on the Full Liberalisation of Passenger Air Services (an open skies policy) in 2010. From 2015,
AirAsia was launched in 2002 by Tony Fernandes, at the time a pioneer of low-cost flights in Asia. At first, the company operated three Boeing 737s. In 2004, after a very successful public offering, AirAsia was listed on the Malaysian Stock Exchange and from there grew rapidly. As of 2011, the AirAsia Group has 93 aircraft spread across 12 hubs (see appendix 1) and is flying to more than 60 destinations in 16 countries with 130 domestic and international routes. AirAsia operates 3,500 flights every week on domestic and international routes from nine regional hubs in Malaysia, Thailand (Thai AirAsia) and Indonesia (Indonesia AirAsia). AirAsia’s head office and its main base is the Low Cost Carrier Terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. This terminal handles 48.4% of AirAsia’s traffic (see appendix 2). AirAsia is the leading low-cost carrier in the world and won the Skytrax award for World's Best Low-Cost Airline in 2009 and 2010. In addition, the company is Asia's largest low-fare, no-frills airline and has a long-haul arm, AirAsia X, which currently flies to China, India, Iran, Taiwan, the UK and Australia with plans to launch services to Japan and South Korea. This report will use the PESTEL framework to evaluate the opportunities and threats presented by AirAsia’s external environment. It will then apply a SWOT framework to analyse the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of the AirAsia group. Finally, this report will list three recommendations, to be evaluated by the AirAsia board of directors before implementation.
To begin, a PESTEL framework will enable us to understand all the macro-environmental factors affecting AirAsia. 1. Political
Opportunities
Deregulation and privatization present Air Asia with opportunities for new routes. For example, the ASEAN governments signed the ASEAN Multilateral Agreement on the Full Liberalisation of Passenger Air Services (an open skies policy) in 2010. From 2015,