AirAsia Berhad is a Malaysian low-cost airline headquartered near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the largest airline in Malaysia by fleet size and destinations. AirAsia Group operates scheduled domestic and international flights to more than 165 destinations spanning 25 countries.
Founded - 20 December 1993
Headquarters - Kuala Lumpur International Airport
Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia
Key people
Tony Fernandes, Co-founder and GCEO of AirAsia Group
Riad Asmat, CEO
Revenue - Increase RM 5.01 billion/US$ 1.12 billion(1~3Q 2016)
Net income - Increase RM 1.574 billion/US$ 354 million
AirAsia, is considering an initial coin offering (ICO) as part of a push into financial services.
Speaking to TechCrunch on the fringes of the Money20/20 Asia conference, which finished March 15, CEO Tony Fernandes confirmed the operator was “building a payment platform” to “marry” its “Big Loyalty” reward scheme with the potential for ICO tokens.
“We have two things that are very interesting which will have relevance to ICOs, one is our loyalty card where we have [loyalty program] BIG Points, and I think those BigPoints can be easily transferred to the blockchain,” Fernandes said on the sidelines of Money2020 in Singapore
ICOs generated more than $6 billion for startups last year, with Southeast Asia, and Singapore in particular, emerging as a hub. To date, however, most ICO have been undertaken by young companies, if it did opt for an ICO, AirAsia would be the most established — and highest-valued — consumer business to take that route.
In Malaysia, where AirAsia is listed, regulators introduced new regulations for cryptocurrency in February while keeping a close eye on ICO schemes under its jurisdiction.