AirAsia

History of AirAsia

AirAsia's low-cost story dates from 2001, when a new management team took over a small, loss-making Malaysian airline and relaunched it with the slogan "Now Everyone Can Fly". It grew quickly on point-to-point routes from Kuala Lumpur, using a single fleet type, direct online sales and paid extras.

The model was copied through joint ventures in Thailand (Thai AirAsia), Indonesia (Indonesia AirAsia) and the Philippines (Philippines AirAsia), and later Cambodia. A separate long-haul airline, AirAsia X, was set up to fly wide-body jets. For many years the short-haul airlines sat under a listed parent company that was later renamed Capital A.

That structure changed in 2026. Capital A sold AirAsia Berhad and AirAsia Aviation Group Limited to AirAsia X, completing the deal on 16 January 2026; AirAsia X was renamed AirAsia Group Berhad, putting short- and long-haul flying under one group. In May 2026 AirAsia ordered 150 Airbus A220-300s, and in September 2026 AirAsia Malaysia's air operator certificate was renewed until 2029.

Fleet

Aircraft types in service as of 2026

AirAsia flies Airbus A320-family narrow-bodies. Capital A's 2025 annual report describes the airline business as more than 200 aircraft, with the A321neo recently introduced and four A321LRs due in 2026. On order are 50 A321XLRs under a July 2025 agreement and 150 A220-300s ordered in May 2026. The wider AirAsia group says it has more than 250 aircraft across all its airlines.

Network and hubs

AirAsia Malaysia's main base is KLIA Terminal 2 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. In September 2026 it flew to 15 domestic and 73 international destinations across 22 countries, with about 1,620 flights a week, and held a 61% share of Malaysia's domestic capacity.

Across the group, AirAsia airlines are licensed in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia, and the group says it serves more than 150 destinations. AirAsia X flies longer routes from Kuala Lumpur with wide-body aircraft.