MALAYSIA's airasia is said to be eyeing the acquisition of cargo airline Raya Airways to take advantage of the booming freight market, reports London's Loadstar.
Raya has denied this, however, and its owners are said to be considering an IPO for the airline, which has a fleet of three B767 freighters and one 737 on 70 flights a week between Malaysia and Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Hong Kong.
The move would mark another strong pivot to cargo for AirAsia since the Covid-crisis began. For example, last year AirAsia's logistics unit, Teleport, bought its first 737 freighter, which was deployed on south-east Asian routes from the company's Bangkok hub.
Teleport CEO Pete Chareonwongsak said AirAsia's rumoured interest in Raya was a sign of the carrier's 'growing investment and relevance in logistics'.
Teleport is not the only AirAsia subsidiary making moves into cargo. Late last month, AirAsia X, its long-haul affiliate, announced it had struck a partnership with Geodis to operate flights from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong, Chennai, Sydney and Shanghai.
Geodis explained the boost to its Asia Pacific network was necessary due to the continued lack of bellyhold capacity across the region, but the move continues the trend of forwarders investing in charter flights and owned capacity.
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Raya has denied this, however, and its owners are said to be considering an IPO for the airline, which has a fleet of three B767 freighters and one 737 on 70 flights a week between Malaysia and Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Hong Kong.
The move would mark another strong pivot to cargo for AirAsia since the Covid-crisis began. For example, last year AirAsia's logistics unit, Teleport, bought its first 737 freighter, which was deployed on south-east Asian routes from the company's Bangkok hub.
Teleport CEO Pete Chareonwongsak said AirAsia's rumoured interest in Raya was a sign of the carrier's 'growing investment and relevance in logistics'.
Teleport is not the only AirAsia subsidiary making moves into cargo. Late last month, AirAsia X, its long-haul affiliate, announced it had struck a partnership with Geodis to operate flights from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong, Chennai, Sydney and Shanghai.
Geodis explained the boost to its Asia Pacific network was necessary due to the continued lack of bellyhold capacity across the region, but the move continues the trend of forwarders investing in charter flights and owned capacity.
SeaNews Turkey
