Airasia Digital transforms into MOVE, entering a new era of travel innovation

As part of the transformation, MOVE’s travel platform business, airasia Superapp, will also undergo a brand refresh and change its name to “airasia move”.

Tony Fernandes, the visionary co-founder of AirAsia and CEO of Capital A, will take over as MOVE’s executive chairman and his role will be to foster a collaboration between both airasia move and BigPay.

“The name MOVE represents us better as the digital arm of Capital A and reiterates our commitment to move people, ideas, and innovation forward within the travel space,” Fernandes said.

Customers can now seamlessly access both travel and financial services on a single platform, with integrated financial features from BigPay such as balance display, top-ups, and payments.

Fernandes explained that with this change, the market can expect an improved user experience very soon.

Joining Fernandes in this venture is Nadia Omer, who will be joining as the chief executive officer of airasia move as of October 26.

Her key priority will be advancing airasia move’s vision as a low-cost travel platform with high conversion, while closely collaborating with BigPay, led by Zubin Rada Krishnan.

In the past two years, airasia Superapp has swiftly become a one-stop travel platform offering seamless end-to-end booking experiences, while BigPay has established itself as an innovative fintech provider.

Both of Capital A’s digital businesses have been taking significant strides, with airasia move reaching a record of 15 million users at the end of the second quarter. BigPay, meanwhile, saw its card users grow by 16% year-on-year for the same period.

At a Thai media event, Fernandes said the Covid-19 pandemic had led him to take chances and turn negative outcomes into positive ones.

“Now that the pandemic is over, we shift our focus to travel. While the airline business generates most of the income, we anticipate the company’s digital arm to generate more revenue in the future,” he said.

"We never wanted to gain the title of worldwide application; we want to be big in Asean like an emporium of travel.”

Fernandes said the aim is to make airasia move the go-to platform for travellers in Southeast Asia, as it will offer them services such as flight and hotel bookings, mobility solutions, food delivery, a travel community, promotional rewards and even an e-wallet.

“In the future, we want to collaborate with other local applications for each country to provide better services because travel is more than just a flight and a hotel; imagine shopping duty-free 24/7 in the online marketplace on the plane instead of spending an hour or two shopping before boarding,” he said.

However, he admitted that it will take a while to make people aware of what airasia move has to offer.

“The emphasis is on proving that we are not simply selling plane tickets,” he said, adding that the light green tint of the MOVE logo will make people wonder why AirAsia is green rather than red.

“Red is already our well-known brand, but green is our new identity, and we have a lot to offer clients,” he said.

Fernandes also revealed plans to introduce a one-on-one chatbot and community for travel by yearend. This AI-powered feature will help travellers plan their trips, learn about specific tourist sites and optimise travel costs, ensuring an exceptional travel experience with airasia move.