AirAsia plans innovation centre at Bengaluru

Kuala Lumpur: AirAsia has launched its revamped loyalty scheme, the ‘Freedom Flyer Programme’. The low-cost carrier is also looking at setting up an innovation centre in Bengaluru.
AirAsia, the largest low-cost carrier in the continent in terms of passenger volume, connects more than 120 destinations, including in India. Its new loyalty scheme allows points to be earned based on a membership status system that takes into account how often guests fly, regardless of what they spend on fares.
Flyers can earn and redeem points across markets served by the carrier from Malaysia to India, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Japan and Australia, among others. The loyalty points, which can be redeemed for a minimum of 500 ‘Big Points’, do not expire unless a member’s digital loyalty card shows no activity continuously for three years.
AirAsia India CEO Amar Abrol said the airline also plans to launch an innovation centre in India’s technology hub Bengaluru, which will serve the needs of the entire group. He is confident about the Indian market turning profitable by the end of 2018 for the no-frills airline, which is part-owned by Malaysian carrier AirAsia Bhd and Tata Sons. Abrol, who took over as CEO last year from Mittu Chandilya, added that AirAsia India will continue to invest in the country to fuel its expansion and is also eyeing the launch of its international operations.
The loyalty programme was launched recently by AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes, AirAsia X Group CEO Datuk Kamarudin Meranun and AirAsia BIG Loyalty CEO Dato’ Eddy Leong at the AirAsia headquarters RedQ in Sepang, Malaysia.
Fernandes said, “When my partner Datuk Kamarudin and I started AirAsia, we dreamed of democratising air travel so flying would no longer be a luxury only a few could enjoy. This new and improved loyalty programme is the latest in our continuing quest to give our guests the freedom to live a rewarding life.”
(The writer was in Kuala Lumpur at the invitation of AirAsia)