Capital A appoints new CEO at airasia to drive global growth as it launches new entity

Capital A, the holding company of airline AirAsia, has launched a new entity dedicated to further enhancing the reach and impact of its AirAsia brand worldwide and has appointed a new CEO to lead it and to drive brand growth globally. 

Titled airasia brand co. (abc.), the entity will focus on the primary areas of development, including strategic brand licensing, brand collaboration and merchandising opportunities in the travel-related and lifestyle sectors, as well as content creation which will allow the brand to amplify exposure, reach wider audiences and add tremendous value to the AirAsia ecosystem.

Rudy Khaw, who has been at AirAsia for 16 years since 2007, will lead the new initiative as CEO alongside Capital A CEO Tony Fernandes as chairman.

Khaw is a seasoned brand expert who has served as the chief brand officer of AirAsia and AirAsia Superapp where he successfully led several strategic branding initiatives that resulted in significant revenue growth.

He has also held roles such as brand executive, brand manager, regional head of branding and group head of branding in his time at AirAsia. 

Don't miss: Capital A introduces new leadership, Colin Currie now CEO of AirAsia digital

"We are thrilled to embark on this new venture and take our brand to even greater heights. Through abc., we will explore new and exciting ways to connect with people through expanding AirAsia's brand influence across diverse industries, unlocking its true potential," said Khaw in a statement.

Adding on, Fernandes noted that the launch of AirAsia brand co. marks a significant milestone. "The AirAsia brand is something we have always taken pride in - built by our Allstars, and we recognise its immense potential to go beyond aviation. I am confident that with Rudy's expertise in brand management and his proven ability to drive growth, we will be able to find new spaces for people to express brand love and loyalty," he said. 

He added that by diversifying into licensing, merchandising, and content creation, it will set new benchmarks in brand development and extend its brand's relevance to create meaningful experiences beyond transactions for millions of AirAsia fans worldwide.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out for more information. 

The news comes weeks after Capital A introduced new leadership to spearhead its digital business growth. Double hatting the roles of president of Capital A’s Commercial wing as well as CEO of AirAsia Digital, is Colin Currie. Curie first joined in 2021 leaving his role as APAC MD of Adidas. He was appointed chief commercial officer to develop a consumer-centric strategy using data to optimise growth and meet the financial objectives across AirAsia’s airlines and digital units. 

Currie comes with extensive experience where in his prior role, he was responsible for making adidas one of the hottest consumer brands in the region, growing the company’s revenue fivefold in Greater China and narrowing the market share gap from fourth to head to head market leadership. He was also credited for improving the brand’s operating model and leading the regional market to record-breaking growth.

Additionally, the company’s head of investments, John Cheing has been appointed as chief financial officer for AirAsia Digital and AirAsia SuperApp. Chieng commenced his duties on 1 March 2023.

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