THE recent downgrading of Malaysia’s aviation regulator to a Category 2 rating by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will not discourage the AirAsia Group from expanding its operations to the United States.

AirAsia Group Bhd co-founder and group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes said the carrier, which has been named the world’s best low-cost airline year after year, has many ways to expand into the large market without Malaysia being the base country. 

“We can’t expand to America any more from Malaysia, but we have so many ways to expand to America. We have AirAsia Japan (for example),” he told a press conference after announcing AirAsia’s partnership with Kiwi.com in Sepang today.

On Monday, the FAA downgraded the air safety rating to a Category 2, which prevents the country’s airlines from adding new services to the United States.

Asked whether AirAsia’s flights to Hawaii were affected, Fernandes said: “Why should it be affected? Check the law. It has nothing to do with that (the restriction on opening new routes or adding services to the US).

“Whatever is in operation (will remain) in operation.” – Bernama, November 15, 2019.