AirAsia mulls opening restaurant based on in-flight menu

AirAsia is mulling on its plans to launch a fast food restaurant offering meals from its in-flight menu named "Santan". According to The Star, which quoted group CEO Tony Fernandes in his interview with US talk show host Larry King, the airline believes in the quality of its in-flight menu and offerings, and thinks its food is "fantastic". Hence, it intends to roll out a fast food restaurant based on the in-flight menu, which is being marketed as a "gourmet in-flight dining experience", The Star said. AirAsia declined to comment on A+M's queries. While no dates have been slated for the restaurant, what is for certain is AirAsia's desire to experiment. In fact, the airline recently rolled out a new chatbot named AVA (AirAsia Virtual Allstar), in addition to giving its website and mobile app a facelift. The updates are in a bid to deliver a more seamless and user-friendly experience to airasia.com and the app's users. This comes after Fernandes tweeted earlier this year that 2019 will be the year that people take notice of the airline’s digital strength. He also added that the focus for the year would be to make the Indonesia and Philippines markets more profitable. With regards to the Indonesia market, AirAsia plans to develop a new hub in the country's West Nusa Tenggara province which can potentially help boost tourist arrivals to Lombok. As part of the airline’s commitment to the communities of West Nusa Tengarra, the airline is also in discussions to develop sustainable tourism initiatives. Read also: AirAsia extends partnership with UFC AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes featured (again) in ‘misleading sponsored content’ AirAsia gets SG consumers thinking about ‘quickies’ in new brand campaign AirAsia reaffirms intention to launch airline in Vietnam AirAsia names Spencer Lee CEO of BIG Loyalty AirAsia X names new group CEO, reshuffles senior management