AirAsia launches Cambodia branch
On 2 May 2024, AirAsia Cambodia launched its commercial operations after it secured its Air Operator's Certificate on 30 April 2024. AirAsia's newest branch is based at Phnom Penh and starts with domestic flights serving Siem Reap and Sihanoukvile.
AirAsia Cambodia is a joint-venture between the AirAsia Group owning 51%, and local company Sivilai Asia owning 49% of the new airline. It currently has a single Airbus A320 in the fleet, which is registered XU-819 (5109) and was previously operated by Thai AirAsia. The new airline also has intentions to fly internationally and is planning to expand to other AirAsia hubs like Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore soon.
The AirAsia Group is made-up of AirAsia (based in Malaysia), Indonesia AirAsia, Philippine AirAsia, Thai AirAsia, and Teleport and is owned by investment company Capital A.
Ealier this year, Capital A announced its plans to sell-off AirAsia Group in order to raise funds for growing its other businesses. The company reached an agreement with AirAsia X, in which the AirAsia Group is a minority owner. Once this deal is finalized, AirAsiaX is set to rebrand itself into AirAsia and consolidate all operations under that brand and discontinuing the X-brand.
AirAsia X was founded in 2006 as FlyAsian Express, flying as a domestic carrier. A year later, it was acquired by a joint-venture co-owned by the original founder of AirAsia, and rebranded into AirAsiaX. It was redesigned to become AirAsia's long-haul carrier, operating the Airbus A330-300. In 2014 it also established subsidiaries in Indonesia and Thailand, of which the latter is still flying today.
