KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — Capital A Bhd expects to return to profitability in 2023 in line with the anticipated recovery in travel demand by year-end, said chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes today.

Speaking to reporters during a virtual media briefing today, he said AirAsia plans to have most of its fleet back in service by year-end.

"Our sales (is currently) at 75 per cent of the pre-Covid-19 level and I never expected it to (recover) so quickly. 

"We are doing very well in the Philippines and Indonesia as well, which is a huge bonus for us,” he said during the briefing which was held to announce a five-year collaboration between Capital A’s digital arm, airasia Super App and Google Cloud today. 

Fernandes said the high crude oil price is not an issue at the moment as demand for air travel is robust, adding that its recovery in Asean would accelerate in line with the reopening of international borders. 

"I am very optimistic that in two to three months, we will be back to travelling like we used to pre-Covid-19.

"While China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are not completely open, we are seeing robust demand in India and inter-Asean as well as domestically, which more than covers the loss of traffic in China for AirAsia,” he added. 

Meanwhile, the airasia Super App-Google Cloud collaboration aims to advance airasia Super App’s vision of a co-innovation ecosystem that all businesses and developers can partake in to meet the daily needs of people in the region.

The parties will combine core competencies to nurture technology talent, co-create software tools for open innovation, deliver data-driven intelligence on behalf of micro, small and medium enterprises on the platform, and ensure accessibility for diverse users in cities and rural areas.

Both parties will also establish a cloud centre of excellence consisting of AirAsia Allstars and Google Cloud technologists.

"With Google as our partner to take our digital journey to the next stage, we will expand the platform into an entire ecosystem that will not only be transactional but extends to building community, and enriching that community with market-ready technologies and resources to engage more users,” said Fernandes. — Bernama