KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Investment Ltd, the holding company for the airline group, has been officially renamed AirAsia Aviation Ltd as AirAsia expands its portfolio to become a digital travel and lifestyle services group.With the rebranding, the group hopes to create a clear distinction between the airline and digital businesses.

       “This structural change helps facilitate strong projected growth in both airline and non-airline portfolio businesses.

       “The AirAsia Aviation Ltd entity holds our existing airline investments and paves the way for new airline ventures to be formed in due course,” said Bo Lingam, formerly president of AirAsia Group and now group CEO Of AirAsia Aviation, in a statement.

       He added that the group has established a new AirAsia Consulting division tasked at reviewing new airline partnerships and franchise opportunities.

       AirAsia Aviation oversees the four airlines in the group, namely, AirAsia Malaysia, AirAsia Philippines, AirAsia Thailand and AirAsia Indonesia.

       It is one of eight digital portfolio companies under AirAsia Group Bhd, alongside AirAsia Super App, cargo and logistics venture Teleport, BigPay financial services, edutech arm AirAsia Academy, engineering company Asia Digital Engineering, ground services division GTR and restaurant chain and food group Santan.

       On prospects, Bo Lingam said the group projects a V-shaped rebound in air travel and is already seeing huge pent-up demand for air travel in Malaysia.

       “We look forward to the opening of international borders as the next key milestone.

       “We will continue to review new markets to operate from in the future, like Cambodia for example, when we can connect Asean once again with the best value fares and lifestyle offerings,” he said.