AirAsia rebukes relocation rumours

AirAsia has denied reports that it is relocating its corporate headquarters from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia, claims he was misquoted at the launch of AirAsia Japan in Tokyo last week and that there are no such plans to shift the corporate headquarters to Jakarta. “Nothing changes. AirAsia’s head office is in Malaysia and our listing is on Bursa Malaysia,” he told The Star newspaper.However the budget airline does intend to open an office in Jakarta. But Fernandes insists the office in Jakarta is just a regional office with a specific mission to build relationships with the ASEAN Secretariat as the regional political grouping works towards an open skies agreement in 2015.The office in Jakarta will be called, AirAsia ASEAN, to reflect the company’s intention to play a leading role in the development of the economic community. It said in a statement; “Indonesia’s growth trajectory is set to increase its share of ASEAN’s GDP in the years to come, and AirAsia is but merely moving ahead of the curve in locating AirAsia ASEAN in Jakarta to help increase our visibility and profile in the region’s most-populated nation.”This is particularly relevant at this time with AirAsia Indonesia heading for a listing on the Indonesian stock exchange. We believe that having our ASEAN representative office in Jakarta will also help our group coordinate more effectively with the Indonesian authorities and interact more closely with the 240 million people in that archipelagic nation to better serve them in their increasing need for affordable and convenient air travel,” The decision is a boon for the region’s fastest growing economy too. Analysts see the presence of AirAsia as a great motivating power behind industry development within Indonesia. Authorities will have to raise the momentum of infrastructure development in the country to meet the ambitious expansion plans of the airline and 10% plus passenger growth expected this year.