NEW AIRLINE - Capital A plans to base Teleport A321Fs in the Philippines

The CEO of Capital A, the investment arm of the AirAsia Aviation Group, is eyeing a significant expansion of freight operations in the Philippines. Last week, CEO Tony Fernandes said Capital A intends to assign several A321-200(P2F)s coming to its Teleport logistics arm, to the market.

Speaking at the unveiling of Teleport's first freighter to be operated by AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur International) in Kuala Lumpur on July 12, Fernandes told the media that "(the) Philippines is where we see Teleport to be a very big operation. Obviously, Philippines AirAsia (Z2, Manila Ninoy Aquino International) is doing most of Teleport's work right now through belly space. But in the not-too-distant future, the ten aircraft that we're talking about, some will be destined for the Philippines."

Fernandes said another two A321Fs will deliver to Teleport this year and the other seven within 18 months. The first three aircraft are arriving on seven-year leases, and although they will wear Teleport livery, AirAsia crews will operate them. Highlighting the importance of the Philippines to the AirAsia Group, Capital A officials said in raw volume terms, the Manila - Davao route was the group's best performing route.

In June, Fernandes said he was "excited" to put more investments into the Philippines, where the AirAsia Philippines passenger operation is now recording better passenger numbers and load factors than before the pandemic. Capital A has also stated its interest in expanding its MRO operations in the country. Fernandes says one option is bringing Asia Digital Engineering (ADE) to the Philippines. ADE is Capital A's aircraft engineering business with line maintenance and warehouse facilities in Kuching, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Langkawi, and Johor Bahru, and a full suite of MRO facilities at its Kuala Lumpur International hub.

"We have a great logistics business coming, Teleport Philippines, which we think will be great for e-commerce providers in the Philippines to sell their goods all over," said Fernandes. "We want to build an engineering company here, on top of Lufthansa Technik's. We would like to bring in ADE, which is really a fantastic engineering company."

CH Aviation