AirAsia is expecting international routes to reach the level attained before the pandemic in July as more countries are relaxing their travel requirements, prompting the group to launch its first ever subscription model for a combination of air tickets and food delivery services.
Tony Fernandes, chief executive at Capital A, formerly AirAsia group, said the subscription service named "SUPER+" (Super Plus) will be the first in the aviation industry that provides unlimited services which resemble Amazon Prime and Netflix in streaming services.
He said the group previously offered an unlimited pass or buffet-style air tickets, but the newly introduced plan will combine both unlimited flight redemption across its four airlines in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines and unlimited free delivery for airasia food orders, plus Covid pre-departure insurance coverage.
However, the SUPER+ services will not include flights from its long-haul carriers under AirAsia X.
During the introductory phase, the group set a sales quota of 200,000 subscribers with an average price of only 5,000 baht.
It also has a plan to increase the volume of sales and might expand it to hotel or ride hailing bookings by offering discounts for those services in the future.
Mr Fernandes said as the situation regarding travel restrictions has evolved quickly in many countries, including in Southeast Asia, the recovery of international routes to the same level as before the pandemic is foreseeable in July, similar to aviation in Europe that earlier lifted most of the requirements.
He said AirAsia X is looking for long-haul resumption in South Korea, Australia, Japan and Europe. If China decides to reopen its borders, it could be a bigger bonus for the aviation industry.
Subscribers for SUPER+ will be able to redeem their flights for a period of one year from March 28 and start to travel from April 11 this year to April 10 next year.
Amanda Woo, chief executive of airasia Super App, said active users in Thailand have grown by two times over the past two months, accounting for 30% of total users.