AirAsia launches world's first SMS booking service
AirAsia launches world's first SMS booking service
Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur
No-frills Malaysian carrier AirAsia on Tuesday launched the
world's first SMS ticket reservation service with hopes of
expanding its reach to 10 million mobile phone users.
Chairman Pahamin Rajab said the move followed its success with
its Internet ticketing service, which recorded over 80 million
ringgit (US$21 million) in sales since May last year.
He said AirAsia had invested three million ringgit to develop
the short message service (SMS) booking system, jointly with top
mobile phone operator Maxis and Dutch-based technology firm
Getronics.
The service will be available Friday initially to some three
million Maxis subscribers but other mobile operators are expected
to come on board within the next one to two months, he said.
"With this, we have covered every access to our tickets. With
the increasing number of mobile phone users, we are now reaching
out to even more people in Malaysia," Pajamin said.
Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, launching the SMS
service, said some 42 percent of Malaysian's 23 million
population owned a mobile phone compared with 11.7 percent who
are Internet users.
The new service would therefore allow AirAsia to reach out to
nearly 10 million Malaysians, he said, praising the carrier for
revolutionizing air travel in the country.
Officials said it takes about eight SMSs to complete a booking
at the standard rate of 0.15 ringgit for each SMS but the service
comes at no additional cost.
AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes said Internet booking
now made up 45 percent of the company's total sales.
It is working with top bank Malayan Banking and several other
banks to expand the method of online payments from just credit
cards to direct debiting of customer accounts in the next two
months, he said.
Fernandes said AirAsia's revenue suffered after rival national
carrier Malaysia Airlines launched domestic promotions in June to
counter a travel slump induced by the Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) outbreak.
"We hope pricing will not (continue to) be anti-competition.
We do see ourselves as two different markets. It is better for us
to work together, rather than creating wasteful competition," he
said.
Abdullah earlier told reporters it was up to the two carriers
to draw up their pricing strategies but urged the two to "be
friends" and complement each other.
AirAsia last week said it hoped to launch flights to Indonesia
by year-end and to Thailand from January as part of its regional
expansion.
It currently has seven aircraft, and has placed orders to buy
four more and lease seven, taking its fleet to 18 by end of 2004.