Flying low: Airasia ventures into ride-hailing services in Malaysia

Many Filipinos often associate Airasia with its low-cost airline. But for other parts in the Asia-Pacific region, it offers a lot more. Just recently, it expanded its portfolio further after venturing into the ride-hailing business with the introduction of Airasia Ride.

Introduced in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, the new Airasia Ride is set to provide “passengers greater convenience, more competitive prices, and better income opportunity for drivers, in addition to a safe experience with a 100-percent fully-vaccinated driver fleet.”

Airasia Super App Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amanda Woo said that the move is part of the company’s continuous digital transformation journey to become ASEAN’s top super app.

“Airasia is all about convenience, flexibility and unbeatable value, and Airasia Ride presents a different, yet compelling e-hailing solution to passengers through a single super app platform for a total mobility booking experience from air to ground,” she said.

“By leveraging on our rich data we collected in the past 20 years, Airasia Ride is the new game changer for the e-hailing and travel industry. Airasia Ride not only brings you from point A to B, but we offer a complete user experience for our passengers — pre-flight, during flight and post-flight,” Woo added.

Further, she also noted the possibility of integrating the newly introduced offering with their logistics arm, Teleport. If this happens, the same pool of drivers in the Airasia Ride will be tapped “for maximum efficiency and cost savings, apart from synergizing with our e-commerce verticals, supplementing our existing last-mile delivery capabilities with greater capacity and reach.

“Another exciting product innovation in the pipeline is partnership with electric vehicles, to spearhead the drive for sustainability in mobility for ASEAN,” Woo announced.  

Airasia Ride Malaysia CEO Lim Chiew Shan claimed that the difference between them and the companies in the same market is the unique insights and data that they have acquired being “a Super App that owns an airline, and have strong vertical products on e-commerce, fintech, logistics, and now e-hailing.”

Moreover, the company noted that the fares of Airasia Ride are set at an average of RM1 per kilometer (excluding toll charges). To get the public to try its new offering, Airasia Ride offers passengers a RM3-discount off their first ride by using the promo code AARIDE3 in the app until September 30.

“The Airasia ride e-hailing service can be booked by clicking on the ‘Ride’ icon on the airasia Super App, or visiting airasia.com/ride. Services are currently available in the Klang Valley, with expansion to more cities in Malaysia planned throughout the year,” Airasia claimed in its statement.

Photos from Airasia

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