Malaysia-based Capital A online travel agent (OTA) platform AirAsia MOVE has improved its growth trajectory in the fourth quarter from the preceding quarter, closing with MYR 166 million ($37.22 million) in revenue, up 29 percent quarter-on-quarter.
Capital A said in a statement on last Friday that AirAsia MOVE transactions grew by 10.4 percent with a 16.2 percent increase in monthly active users (MAUs) on the back of simplified booking flow and data marketing capabilities.
According to the statement, AirAsia Flights grew 11 percent quarter on quarter; FlyBeyond and Hotels grew 37 percent and +130 percent year n year respectively, while rides airport completion rate improved by 16 percent.
It is noted that AirAsia MOVE launched its in-house duty-free platform on the app as a new revenue stream.
Along with cost optimization, this resulted in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) growing 24 percent year on year to MYR 77 million ($17.26 million) in the fourth quarter of 2024.
“After 2024’s cost optimizations, 2025 marks a step-up in investment and scale,
“We aim for a steady quarter on quarter growth in transactions across airlines, hotels and rides by investing in demand generation, exclusive promotions and hyper-personalization,” said Nadia Omer, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia MOVE.
According to her, AirAsia MOVE has also expanded into duty-free, the first OTA in the region to do so, with early results proving profitable.
Meanwhile, she added that upgrades to the firm’s tech stack will improve speed, stability and booking ease.
A major focus is streamlining bookings and refunds, targeting a 15 percent year on year increase in customer satisfaction and net promoter score, she said.
“Now that we’re leaner, we are investing some of our structural cost savings into early detection tools, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation,
“Our biggest customer service initiative this year is AskBo 2.0, transitioning from legacy tech to an AI-powered travel concierge co-developed with Google,” she said.
With these priorities, she said the firm is targeting to improve customer experience, accelerate growth, strengthen profitability and redefine budget travel in ASEAN.
Meanwhile, Capital A’s logistics arm Teleport achieved a record revenue of MYR 352 million ($77 million) in the fourth quarter of 2024 (+58 percent year on year).
This was driven by continued eCommerce growth from direct marketplaces which saw a 44 percent rise in parcel volumes and 33 percent increase in cargo volumes.
Teleport’s ecommerce revenue surged 172 percent year on year to MYR 142 million ($31.3 million) and now accounts for 41 percent of total revenue, up from 23 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023.
This marks strong progress in Teleport’s revenue diversification efforts to grow beyond traditional air cargo and AirAsia belly space, with 53 percent of revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024 derived from non-AirAsia capacity.
Teleport Next Day, contributing 2 percent of eCommerce revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024, is growing, with last-mile operations already profitable across all markets and new China-ASEAN lanes to launch next quarter.
Teleport’s fourth quarter 2024 also delivered the highest quarterly EBITDA of the year at MYR 29.7 million ($6.5 million), marking a 235 percent quarter on quarter increase.
For FY2024, Teleport’s revenue reached MYR 1.1 billion ($247 million), marking a 49 percent year on year growth for the second consecutive year, and MYR 90 million ($20.17 million) in EBITDA, representing a 215 percent year on year increase.
This significant improvement reflects an important inflection point in the business model, as scale translates to improved margins, particularly as Teleport remains disciplined in managing fixed costs.
“Team Teleport’s ‘Year of the Build’ in 2024, focused on strengthening our foundational operating model, has yielded record results, exceeding our MYR 1 billion ($224 million) full-year guidance,
“As we enter 2025, we are aggressively scaling towards our target of delivering 2 million parcels a day,” said Teleport Chief Executive Officer Pete Chareonwongsak.
To achieve this, he said the firm is executing in four areas. One, it will expand the Teleport Network across ASEAN and into the Middle East, Oceania and beyond.
According to him, key to this is deepening relationships with the firm’s existing partner airlines to secure additional capacity.
“Two, this allows us to serve our direct partnerships with China’s top eCommerce marketplaces through broader service connectivity and value-added services,
“Three, these value-added services are powered by Teleport’s tech-enabled operational capabilities, offering end-to-end visibility in one place, deep integrations and cost efficiencies in managing increasing volumes with higher productivity,” he said.
Lastly, he noted the firm is disciplined on cost. “We believe in our low-cost, asset-light operating model that is cheaper, faster and better than anyone else in ASEAN,” he said.