News Roundup: Executive musical chair in AirAsia Group in move to drive tech transformation; faster border clearance for visitors to Singapore with launch of beta version of SG Arrival Card e-service; Wirecard and OYO partner to enable faster payments for hotel and home bookings
People: AirAsia shuffles leadership roles to support its tech transformation
(Image credit: AirAsia)
AirAsia Group has reorganised its leadership as part of its transformation into a travel and financial platform company, and to build airasia.com into a lifestyle brand.
As part of the restructuring group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes is doubling up as CEO of airasia.com, the airline’s travel and e-commerce platform, “with an eye to appointing a new CEO” who will report to him in due course.
“We are taking travel to another level by giving our guests a truly integrated and end-to-end experience. Not just flights but hotels, activities, lifestyle, e-commerce and more,” explained Fernandes in a statement on the leadership changes.
“Right at the heart of this is airasia.com, which will be a lifestyle brand that offers a frictionless travel experience of discovery, booking, pricing, branding, deals for all our products and partnerships.
Joining Fernandes is the group’s chief commercial officer Karen Chan who will be airasia.com’s chief commercial officer, responsible for driving all commercial functions.
Assisting her is Spencer Lee who, as chief operating officer, will manage the online business portfolio that includes OURSHOP, AirAsia WiFi (ROKKI), hotel partnerships and others.
The company announced that while a chief product officer for airasia.com will be appointed to head up the product teams, AirAsia software engineering and technology (AASET) head Elias Vafiadis will continue to lead software engineering, all reporting to Fernandes in the interim.
Bo Lingam, AirAsia Group deputy CEO (airlines), has been appointed as the group’s president (airlines). He will also head up AirAsia SEA (formerly known as AirAsia Global Shared Services) – a shared services centre that provides corporate and support services to the airline
“He will continue to run the core airline business and drive customer service improvements and cost efficiencies through digitalisation and the One AirAsia initiative,” the statement elaborated.
Meanwhile, AirAsia Group deputy CEO Aireen Omar is reassigned as as the airline’s president for the corporate venture capital arm, RedBeat Ventures.
In her new role Aireen will focus on seeking out new companies and technologies to power AirAsia’s core business while still overseeing the company’s digital businesses such as BigPay, Teleport and AirAsia BIG Loyalty.
“To make this work we have to have the right structure in place and, with today’s changes, I believe we have put in place the right foundations that will allow us to really drive our digital and ancillary business, which I see eventually contributing up to 70% to earnings,” Fernandes added.
Travel: Smoother entry to Singapore with extension of e-arrival card trial service
(Image credit: espion/Getty Images)
More visitors to Singapore will find the entry process a much faster experience with the launch last week of the beta version of the SG Arrival Card e-service by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
This development is an extension of a trial ICA started in October 2018 on electronic arrival cards. Foreign visitors travelling via select transport operators can submit an electronic arrival card up to 14 days before they arrive in Singapore to speed up immigration process.
The transport operators in the trail include AirAsia, Jetstar Asia, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Transtar Travel, BatamFast Ferries, Bintan Resort Ferries, Horizon Fast Ferry and Majestic Fast Ferry
Visitors travelling on these mode of transportation who submit the electronic arrival cards before arrival in Singapore will only need to produce their passports for immigration clearance, without having to fill in the paper arrival cards.
All other visitors are still required to complete the paper-based disembarkation/embarkation cards. These include those arriving at sea checkpoints via cruise liners, land checkpoints via rail, cars, motorcycles and lorries, as well entering the city-state to assume work pass status.
In launching the beta version of the SG Arrival Card e-service last week the ICA said it aims to completely replace the paper-based disembarkation/embarkation card by 2021.
The e-service is available online at ICA website and as a free mobile app from Apple App Store and Google Play.
“Users of the mobile application will have the option of scanning their passport biodata pages, and enjoy the convenience of not needing to manually key in the information,” said the ICA in a news release.
The app will also save previously submitted information for use on subsequent trips to Singapore.
ICA said it would study the results of this trial and progressively extend the SG Arrival Card facility to all foreign visitors.
Since April foreign travellers leaving Singapore no longer have their passports stamped to speed up immigration clearance. Those who have their fingerprints enrolled in the BioScreen system upon arrival are eligible to use automated lanes when they depart Singapore.
Partnership: Wirecard and OYO collaborate to facilitate payment for bookings
(Image credit: OYO)
Global internet technology and financial services provider Wirecard is providing OYO with a suite of financial services to make payments “seamless and hassle-free” for customers booking hotels and homes in the budget lodging chain.
The collaboration will cover all the markets where OYO is present including the US, UK, Europe and South-east Asia
Wirecard will make available to OYO digital financial commerce related services including payment acceptance and issuance for OYO’s booking services – online, mobile and point-of-sale (POS).
OYO can also leverage Wirecard’s banking-as- a-platform capabilities that include lending and loyalty to travellers booking a OYO property.
Maninder Gulati, chief strategy officer (global) of OYO, said the “all-encompassing scope” of Wirecard’s financial service offerings and its “international financial payments expertise” would ease the booking experience for its customers, as well as “create value-added offerings”.
Added Georg von Waldenfels, Wirecard’s EVP group business development, Wirecard: “The future of the travel industry is digital with unified, integrated customer experiences across all channels – and this includes smooth and reliable digital financial processes such as we intend to provide to OYO around the world,”
OYO is a constituent of the SoftBank Vision Fund, which facilitated the introduction to Wirecard.
Described as the world’s third largest hotel chain by room count, OYO’s current portfolio comprises more than 23,000 hotels and 125,000+ vacation homes in 800 cities across 80 countries.
• Featured image credit: AirAsia