The company has been working on an all-in-one app, which will include payments, entertainment, shopping and food delivery, to bring in new revenue streams.
With the travel industry in a standstill and his fleet of planes grounded, Airasia boss Tony Fernandes has been spending his time improving the AirAsia app and the company's payments platform BigPay, he told «BBC» in an interview on Monday.
«The downturn was a blessing in disguise in some ways as it allowed us to focus more on it. Running an airline takes up a lot of our time but we have been given the opportunity and time to focus on our digital business,» Fernandes said in the interview.
The company hopes to tap on its database of 60 million customers in building out the platform, with Fernandes noting that it «always has been a digital company» and was one of the first airlines to sell online.
Business Slump
The Malaysia-headquartered airline, Asia's biggest budget carrier, started suspending flights in mid-March amid the coronavirus pandemic.
It reported a record quarterly loss of 992.9 million ringgit ($239.08 million) for the three months that ended 30 July, with sales plunging 96 percent to 119 million ringgit. It has also reportedly cut 30 percent of its staff as its planes are grounded amid tight travel curbs and lockdowns.
