AirAsia 2016 outlook Part 3: China expansion accelerates with new routes from Malaysia & Thailand

The AirAsia branded airlines, through their various entities, are pursuing rapid expansion in China as AirAsia seeks to leverage its position as the leading LCC brand in the booming Chinese international market. AirAsia has grown capacity to China by about 15% over the last year and is planning even faster growth in 2016, starting with three new Chinese routes over the next two weeks.

In Feb-2016 AirAsia will have 37 routes to China from nine bases across Southeast Asia. It has an approximate 61% share of Malaysia-China seat capacity and a 13% share of Malaysia-Thailand seat capacity, but strategically needs to accelerate expansion in both markets, as competitors have been growing at a faster rate.

This is Part 3 in a series of reports on AirAsia's plans and outlook for 2016. The first report analysed AirAsia's strategy and expansion plans for Australia, while the second was an analysis of the overall outlook for long haul LCC group AirAsia X.