SEPANG, MALAYSIA – AirAsia Group is among the top airline brands that are well positioned to survive the COVID-19 crisis, judging from its cash position, brand strength and brand value, says independent brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance.
Brand Finance recently released its annual report on the most valuable and strongest airline brands – the Brand Finance “Airlines 50” for 2020.
AirAsia was the only low cost carrier from ASEAN featured on the list, registering a 15.5% year-on-year growth in brand value – the highest in Asia and the second highest amongst all airlines globally, thus making it one of the top 25 most valuable airline brands in the world.
In the 10 Strongest Brands ranking of the report, AirAsia was rated as having the highest year-on-year increase and one of only four airline brands in the world to have an AAA+ rating. This was based on marketing investment, familiarity, loyalty, staff satisfaction and corporate reputation.
Samir Dixit, Managing Director, Brand Finance Asia Pacific, commented: “While there were very few brands that had positive brand value growth, AirAsia found itself to be a strong contender with some of the best brands in the world. This can undoubtedly be attributed to the consistency of brand experience and the brand building efforts by AirAsia across customers and other stakeholders. The current COVID-19 crisis presents a dangerous threat to airlines, and will not be easy to manage given that airlines will struggle to recapture lost demand and could lose up to 20% of overall brand value. The only thing that will drive customer preference in difficult times is the brand and the airline brands that are weaker may not even survive the crisis. Based on our criteria, we found AirAsia to be one of the 30 global airline brands well poised to survive the COVID-19 crisis.”
President (Airlines) of AirAsia Group, Bo Lingam said: “We are truly honoured by this achievement that acknowledges our quest for continual improvement in all that we do at AirAsia. We will never stop to always put our customers first, at the core of every decision we make to ensure we provide the very best value for air travel experience. Value, innovation and choice are three cornerstones to our brand and this is a testament to the dedication and hard work from all of us at AirAsia.”
After a period of hibernation following the pandemic, AirAsia last week resumed scheduled domestic flights in Malaysia and Thailand with strict health controls and social distancing protocol in place, in compliance with the regulations. Resumption of services will follow in the Philippines, Indonesia, India and Japan soon, and will include international destinations around the network, once the situation improves and governments lift borders and travel restrictions.
For more information, request for a copy of the full Brand Finance Airlines 50 2020 report here.
