airasia offers alternative to Grab in new ride hailing play

Malaysia is set to experience an alternative service to the dominant player Grab with airasia ride, the newly-launched ride hailing arm of the airasia Group.

In a statement, the company claimed airasia ride will provide passengers greater convenience, more competitive prices, and better income opportunity for drivers, in addition to a safe experience with a 100% fully-vaccinated driver fleet.

The newly launched entity said passengers will enjoy RM3 off their first ride by using the promo code AARIDE3 from now until Sept 30.

The airasia ride e-hailing service can be booked by clicking on the ‘Ride’ icon on the airasia Super App, or by visiting airasia.com/ride, the company said.

Services are currently available in the Klang Valley, with expansion to more cities in Malaysia planned throughout the year, it added.

“airasia is always about democratising services and giving people the freedom to choose, said Amanda Woo (pic), chief executive officer (CEO) of airasia Super App.

“airasia ride inherits the DNA of running a low-cost model that enables savings to be passed on to guests and strives to offer the lowest fares on the road.”

She added that this is part of its continuous digital transformation journey to become Asean’s top super app through our regional expansion into Thailand and potentially Indonesia very soon.

Woo said there is also the potential for airasia ride to integrate with Teleport, its logistics arm to complement the logistics and delivery services, tapping into the same pool of drivers for maximum efficiency and cost savings.

Another exciting product innovation in the pipeline is partnership with electric vehicles, to spearhead the drive for sustainability in mobility for Asean, she added.

"What sets airasia ride apart from others in the market would be the unique insights and data that we have due to our position as a Super App that owns an airline, and have strong vertical products on e-commerce, fintech, logistics, and now e-hailing,” said Lim Chiew Shan, CEO of airasia ride Malaysia.

Lim said passengers will have the ability to choose their preferred vehicle type and also drivers, as we have various communities that are part of our driver fleet.

“I am also pleased to share that airasia ride implements a ‘driver-forward’ concept, which will enable our drivers to improve their overall income and enjoy a better quality of life.

“At the moment, we have about 1,500 registered drivers and with our nationwide expansion, we expect 5,000 more to come onboard in the next six months.”

Ling Liong Tien, chief safety officer AirAsia Group and head of airasia ride said, “Safety is our priority and in line with our safety commitment, we are happy to share that 100% of our driver fleet are fully vaccinated and regularly tested, so anyone who jumps into an airasia ride vehicle can feel safe and confident to travel with us.”

The company said drivers will also have real-time info on passenger arrival, enabling drivers to have better time management by reducing waiting time that results in the ability to make more trips and earn more income.

Drivers take 85% of the net fares (excluding toll charges), higher than other ride hailing providers in the market, making it a viable part time job option and side income opportunity, it claimed.

Fares on airasia ride are set at an average of RM1 per kilometre, excluding toll charges, and for added convenience passengers are able to book on-demand rides, or even pre-book their rides in advance, the company said.

A special feature allows passengers to book an ‘Allstar Ride’ and be chauffeur driven by AirAsia pilots and cabin crew, it added.

Those interested to join the airasia ride Allstars family may sign up by downloading the airasia ride driver app or go to this page and register there.

More promotions and special offers for airasia ride will be available soon. Stay up to date by following @airasiasuperapp on Instagram.