Malaysia’s AirAsia says over 20 new airlines join Super App

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 (Reuters) – AirAsia Group Bhd AIRA.KL has partnered with more than 20 airlines as it builds up its Super App into an online travel agency that also sells flights by competitors, the Malaysian budget airline said on Thursday.

The airlines which joined airasia Super App as partners included Air Canada, Air France, Bamboo Airways, flydubai, KLM, Qatar Airways and Philippine Airlines.

AirAsia said the app has more than 700 airline partners and can reach over 3,000 destinations. It partnered Kiwi.com in 2019, a travel tech firm that allows users to build itineraries to combine flights and ground transportation from more than 800 carriers.

The new partnerships come as international travel gradually reopens after more than a year of slump due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We see a strong V-shape recovery in the coming months,” airasia Super App Chief Executive Officer Amanda Woo said at a briefing.

Woo said the app aims to capture a 30% market share and become the top Southeast Asian online travel agency in five years. It competes with online travel agencies like Agoda and Traveloka.

Through the collaborations, AirAsia will offer travel deals to more destinations outside its network across Europe, Oceania, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas.

(Reporting by Liz Lee; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

((liz.lee@thomsonreuters.com; +603 23338008; Twitter: @livinglizly;))