AirAsiaExpedia Takes Off To A Flying Start With Strong Regional Expansion
AirAsiaExpedia, the revolutionary joint venture company between the world’s largest online travel company, Expedia Inc. and the world’s leading low cost airline, AirAsia, has taken off to a flying start since its launch in July 2011.
A first of its kind partnership between a low cost carrier and an online travel agent, the joint venture has served to strengthen both brands and extend the breadth and depth of their offerings to an expanded audience of travel shoppers across Asia.Using a multi-brand approach, AirAsiaExpedia is bringing more great value travel through simple to use websites to Asia. Travel For All. 
Over the past year, AirAsiaExpedia has launched two localised Expedia sites in Singapore and Thailand – Expedia.com.sg, Expedia.co.th – which offer travellers a selection of over 400 airlines, 150,000 hotels and build-your-own dynamic holiday packages at unbeatable value. Expedia.com.sg is now the Number 1 online travel agency in Singapore according to the latest comScore rankings, achieving this feat in just eight months! Expedia.co.th is also well on track to match this performance.
Underpinned by the monumental growth of tourism in Asia, AirAsiaExpedia plans to launch full-service Expedia sites in Asia over the next nine months, reinforcing its commitment and investment in this region. Building upon the success of these full-service launches, travellers can expect exclusive AirAsia flights, as well as flight and packages from over 400 other airlines, in addition to the existing hotel deals from 150,000 hotels.
“By partnering with AirAsia, Expedia has been able to bring great value travel to Asia. This joint venture has allowed us to expand very quickly in this region to offer travellers the widest range of travel deals from flights, hotels and holiday packages all on one user-friendly site,” said Dan Lynn, CEO, AirAsiaExpedia. “With our full service sites in Singapore and Thailand, we are already helping more people explore more destinations, and the investments we are now planning in Asia will bring Travel For All to even more people,” he added.
Along with the expansion of Expedia, the joint venture is also increasing its focus on AirAsiaGo, AirAsia’s holiday and hotels division. Under the joint venture, AirAsiaGo now enjoys access to Expedia’s extensive inventory of 150,000 hotels worldwide, furthering their promise of offering travellers a comprehensive selection of hotels to meet every budget. Complete with an easy to navigate website and consumer interface, AirAsiaGo continues to grow from strength to strength.
Echoing the optimism, Kathleen Tan, Board of Director of AirAsiaExpedia, as well as Group Head of Commercial for AirAsia, the world’s best low cost airline said, “We knew that this joint venture between AirAsia and Expedia would definitely revolutionise the online travel agency industry when we started off last year. And we are excited to see the growth it has achieved in such a short span of time. Just as AirAsia is committed to grow the market in Asia, this joint venture also aims to focus and tap into the evolving travellers in Asia. Through this partnership with Expedia, and our future plans to invest in the Philippines’ market, I am confident that AirAsiaExpedia will only further spur and grow the tourism industry in the Philippines and beyond, especially the Asean region”.
And to celebrate the one-year mark, a 180-seat Airbus A320 has been turned into a piece of airborne artwork. Created by a team of 20 painters who worked around the clock for 12 days, an AirAsia aircraft has been completely transformed into a bright yellow Expedia branded plane, a symbol of the partnership and synergy between both companies.
The Expedia branded Airbus A320 will be plying routes across AirAsia’s extensive route network which covers nearly 70 destinations across 20 countries, bringing the Expedia brand and experience to even more communities, especially in South East Asia where AirAsia’s short-haul network thrives in a 600 million populated region.
