Driving Digital Transformation To Meet Evolving Needs

Though many may know AirAsia as purely an airline, we pride ourselves on being a digital company which ‘happens to own an airline’. We have always been a digital company, with innovation at the core of our DNA. When we revolutionised low cost air travel inAsean, our digital focus was evident from the start, back in 2002 when the CEO of AirAsia, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes realised our distribution channels had to be optimised if the airline were to make flying more affordable and convenient for the masses. AirAsia was the first airline in Asean and throughout Asia, to focus on selling direct online bookings through its own website, followed by SMS and mobile booking technology to embrace e-commerce in a big way. This vision to always be pioneers in innovation really set the tone for how we conduct our business today and ensure that we are always at the forefront of new technological advancements.

It’s no secret that the current pandemic has put a huge strain on the commercial aviation industry and in order to come out of it stronger than before, airasia has been accelerating its digital transformation strategy (which commenced in 2018) over recent times. The airline has recently repositioned the brand as a digital travel and lifestyle company and fast tracked the growth of many non-airline businesses to help combat the adverse effects of the pandemic. It must be said that airasia has embraced digital capabilities well before other airlines in this region and has been continually maximising the use of technology to deliver greater efficiencies and benefits to consumers.

We continue to revolutionise air travel with numerous new innovations deployed over recent times to further improve the customer experience and make flying not only safe and affordable, but also more seamless and contactless than ever before. For example,we were the first airline in Asia to implement biometric facial recognition technology (F.A.C.E.S) for automated flight boarding in key ports in 2018, and in 2019, we also launched an Artificial Intelligence - powered chat platform (AVA), that now handles more than 80% of our customer queries. These particular advancements were in production well before we even had an inkling of Covid-19, and have tremendously helped us in weathering this storm in terms of contactless travel and supporting the ever changing SOPs and flying rules.

Scan2Fly is our latest innovation which enables guests to upload relevant medical/ travel documentation to verify their eligibility to fly in real time during the online check in process, before heading to the airport. This includes the corresponding processing of any required documents to confirm the guest is approved by the various authorities and possesses a valid Covid-19 negative certificate. Once the documents are uploaded, a report is provided automatically with the approval/rejection status, including the reason for any rejection. Currently available on routes between KL and Singapore, KL and Surabaya and KL and Jakarta, this industry leading technology will be rolled out across all ports where medical documentation is required to be verified prior to travel, in the near future.

Other contactless experience innovations introduced over recent times include automated bag drop services and roving technology for temperature checks at the airport. The airline is also working on the further deployment of our biometric facial recognition technology (F.A.C.E.S) across all ports alongside numerous other touchless systems including digital identity management across the airline’s travel and finance ecosystem. With rapid growth in our non-airline businesses, our goal for the future is to become Asean’s leading travel and lifestyle platform and fastest growing superapp, integrating our fast growing ecosystem of travel, accommodation, entertainment, lifestyle, duty free, food, fintech, logistics, e-commerce and more, which can leverage synergies from each other.

Pandemic aside, the airline industry will always be affected by external factors like fluctuating fuel prices, changing market demands, and adverse weather conditions. More and more, airlines are turning to alternative revenue sources to meet the ever changing needs of consumers. Airasia is a global industry innovator and disruptor and one thing is certain in this new world of travel: It hasbecome increasingly important to constantly evolve and innovate to meet customer needs and as we continue to pivot into a one-stop digital travel and lifestyle platform, there are many more innovations in the pipeline from airasia, which we will announce in due course.