Malaysia’s AirAsia Group Bhd plans to launch an air taxi service and the country’s first drone delivery service as the budget carrier seeks to diversify amid the coronavirus pandemic, the company’s CEO said on Saturday.
As part of the group’s diversification push, it also aims to launch a ride-hailing service next month as COVID-19 continues to hit air travel.
“The air taxi will have a pilot and four seats. At the moment, we have our team working on this upcoming service by AirAsia,” Chief Executive Tony Fernandes said at the Youth Economic Forum 2021; state news agency Bernama reported on Saturday.
With the airline business taking a hit from the coronavirus pandemic, AirAsia has been expanding in the digital space. It launched a “super app” last year that offers services from travel and shopping to logistics and financial services.
He also announced that the airline’s logistics unit Teleport; which is currently testing an urban drone delivery service with state-backed firm Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC); would conduct its first commercial delivery by the end of this year.
“(The) idea was brought up three weeks ago and now it’s reality,” he wrote on Instagram.
Despite the diversification; Fernandes said that he was “optimistic that air travel will soon rebound” on the back of worldwide vaccination programs. Within Malaysia, he said, he “hopes interstate travel will start in the next two to three weeks”. He expects international travel to pick up in July or August 2021.