Last month, AirAsia’s CEO Tony Fernandes announced on LinkedIn that the airline’s food delivery arm, AirAsia food, would be coming to Singapore “with a roar”.
First started in Malaysia in May 2020, AirAsia finally joins Singapore’s food delivery market today (March 2).
Its expansion to Singapore — its first overseas foray — is part of the company’s efforts to seek alternative income sources as the aviation sector continues to be badly affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
At launch, AirAsia food will feature about 80 restaurants, including Swee Choon Tim Sum Restaurant, No Signboard Seafood, The Shepherd’s Pie, Maki-san, Pizza Express and more.
About 300 other restaurants will also be onboarded onto the platform.
It promises to deliver food orders within 60 minutes. Acknowledging that a one-hour delivery time is lengthy, AirAsia said that it will strive to shorten it over time.
Cutting Costs For Consumers
In a virtual press conference earlier today, Mr Fernandes said that AirAsia food aims to give better value by offering low-cost options, much like the mantra of the budget airline.
For one, the platform charges restaurants a 15 per cent commission per delivery.
It is lower than the three major food delivery players GrabFood, foodpanda and Deliveroo, which ranges between 25 and 35 per cent. AirAsia reasoned that their lower commission will lead to lower charges for customers.
Additionally, its delivery fee will also be charged five per cent lower.
To rack up interest in this new service, AirAsia food is offering unlimited free food delivery until March 16. This will apply for deliveries within 8km from the order point.
With each order, customers can earn reward points that can be used for AirAsia flights.
Lastly, AirAsia will not be offering a ‘maps’ feature in-app. While this means customers cannot track the location of their delivery rider, AirAsia assures that they can still chat with them in-app to find out the status of their delivery.
Mr Fernandes sees this ‘maps’ feature — which is present in its rivals’ apps — as an “unnecessary frill” that can help them to cut costs.
Beyond Singapore, AirAsia has plans to expand into Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines in the second half of 2021.
Image Credit: AirAsia
