AirAsia and Expedia have signed a joint venture agreement which will see the launch of a new company covering Asia Pacific and offering a complete range of value flights, hotels and holiday packages.
Under the 50:50 partnership, announced this morning in Singapore, a new company will be formed to operate Expedia, Inc’s Expedia branded businesses in Japan, South-east Asia and other East Asian markets as well as AirAsia’s AirAsiaGo and GoRooms businesses.
The new venture will have exclusive online third-party distribution rights in the region for AirAsia and AirAsiaX flights and travel packages meaning that with few exceptions in the region, the only place to find and book AirAsia flights online will be AirAsia.com, AirAsiaGo.com and Expedia.
Taken together with over 130,000 hotels worldwide, this will create a unique set of packages for Asian countries at competitive prices on both the AirAsiaGo and Expedia sites, the partners said.
In addition, AirAsia (AirAsia Malaysia, AirAsia Indonesia, AirAsia Thailand, AirAsiaX and other AirAsia joint venture airlines) and Expedia are partnering outside of the new venture to make Expedia the exclusive third party provider for AirAsia inventory.
To celebrate the union, AirAsiaGo will be offering discounts of up to 80% in 10 Asian cities for three days beginning March 29, and Expedia will be launching its new Malaysian site and Thai site with a two-week sales period offering discounts of up to 60% on South-east Asian destinations.
AirAsiaGo, Gorooms and Expedia’s branded businesses in Japan, India and Singapore, along with new markets in Malaysia andThailand, will be operated by the joint venture.
Dato Sri Dr Tony Fernandes, group CEO, AirAsia, said this joint venture will revolutionise online travel in Asia. “This partnership between two global brands and leaders in the travel industry comes at a time when online travel bookings are expanding in the region.”
Barry Diller, chairman and senior executive, Expedia, said, “By partnering with AirAsia, Expedia is taking an important step in developing our global position. This is particularly exciting, given Asia’s influence in the online travel marketplace.
“We couldn’t have found a better partner than AirAsia. In addition to being the region’s leading low cost carrier, the airline also shares Expedia’s aspiration to make travel accessible to everyone. I’m deeply impressed by AirAsia’s growth in such a short period of time, and its amazing network.
“There is a lot of focus on travel in Asia today and this collaboration allows our customers to connect to a great network here via AirAsia. Combined with Expedia’s impressive selection of global travel offerings and package technology, we think this partnership enables both companies to offer travellers world-class travel products at an unparalleled value.”
In just over eight years, AirAsia has grown by impressive numbers. It now covers 139 routes and carries more than 100 million passengers. Expedia, the world’s largest online travel company, boasts 70 millon unique visitors a month and $26 billion in gross bookings in 2010.
(Picture shows Tony Fernandes and Barry Diller punching off on the joint venture)
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