【双语阅读】AirAsia: Spreading its wings 亚航：展翅高飞.

　　简介：作为亚洲最成功的航空公司之一，亚航继续扩张。如今，亚航几乎飞遍全世界。亚航在印度尼西亚首都的新办公室位于45楼，窗外风景壮丽，烟消云散时，景色更美。如果亚航的执行官们偶尔觉得自己主宰着大地，他们这种居高临下的瞬间也许是可以原谅的：毕竟，他们导演了亚洲伟大航空公司走向成功的故事。

　　[2012.09.29]

　　AirAsia

　　Spreading its wings

　　One of Asia’s most successful carriers keeps on expanding

　　Sep 29th 2012 | JAKARTA | from the print edition

　　Now flying to almost everywhere

　　THE view from the 45th floor at AirAsia’s new office in the Indonesian capital is spectacular, and even better when the smog lifts. If the airline’s executives occasionally feel masters of all they survey, perhaps they could be forgiven the moments of hubris: they are, after all, at the helm of Asia’s great aviation success story.

　　While older Asian airlines such as Malaysian and Qantas struggle, AirAsia, just ten years old, continues to conquer the skies. Last year it carried 30m passengers, yet their numbers are still growing at around 10% a year, and profits are healthy. It claims to be the fourth-largest airline in Asia despite lacking the huge, captive domestic market of China’s big carriers.

　　The opening of the office in Jakarta marks the start of the next phase of its expansion plans. The airline is still registered in Malaysia, home to its boss, Tony Fernandes, but the Jakarta office is the new base from which it hopes to dominate South-East Asia, with its 600m people, and beyond. It is ideal terrain for airlines: a region dominated by sprawling archipelagoes, where planes therore face little competition from roads and high-speed trains, as they do in Europe or America.

　　To this end AirAsia has bought into the Indonesian domestic market by acquiring a local carrier, Batavia Air (the deal still requires regulatory approval). With a booming economy, a growing middle class and 240m people spread over 17,000 or so islands, Indonesia’s potential is obvious. Batavia’s 32 planes, added to the 18 flown by Indonesia AirAsia, make for a sizeable fleet. And beyond South-East Asia the airline has just broken into the Japanese market, teaming up with All Nippon Airways to launch a new domestic carrier. The service started on August 1st. Next stop, probably, is South Korea. To fly all these people around, AirAsia is amassing an enormous fleet of new planes. It is now the biggest customer for Airbus’s single-aisle A320, with 375 on order, and is expected to order a further 100 planes from Airbus soon.

　　AirAsia’s fares are lower than those of the region’s older “legacy” carriers. But they are not rock-bottom cheap like those of the European no-frills airlines that originally inspired Mr Fernandes. Fortunately for him, Asian customers are prepared to pay a bit more for the privilege of not being treated like European cattle. Cabin crews are well-trained and smartly turned out in red uniforms. Check-in is easy and flights are usually punctual—and don’t all leave at three in the morning.

　　One day AirAsia may face a serious challenge from one of the region’s other young and ambitious carriers, such as Tiger Airways or Jetstar Asia (both operating out of Singapore), the Philippines’ Cebu Pacific or Indonesia’s Lion Air. But for now they are trailing in its wake. The main impediment to AirAsia’s continued expansion, as with other low-cost carriers, is the region’s highly regulated and expensive operating environment. Politicians are fond of building extravagant showpiece airports that end up adding about 15% to the cost of a ticket. What is needed are more cheap-and-cheerful terminals and fewer “Taj Mahals”. As Mr Fernandes notes, “Thailand has the highest airport tax, and the slowest passenger growth.”

　　At least Thailand, together with Malaysia and Singapore, has deregulated its market. Other countries have not, limiting the number of flights between and within them. Even in liberal Singapore, Mr Fernandes has been rebuffed in his attempts to win a licence to set up an operating base.

　　AirAsia has had other disappointments. The long-haul unit of the business had to axe its flights to London and Paris earlier this year because they were losing too much money. High fuel prices were mainly to blame but the EU’s new carbon tax was the “nail in the coffin”, says Mr Fernandes. Other opportunities beckon, however, such as India. Its vast population, enormous size and new middle class dwarf even Indonesia’s. On September 14th, as part of a big package of economic rorms, the Indian government said it would let foreign airlines invest in Indian carriers for the first time, albeit limiting their stakes to 49%. AirAsia is “very interested” in India, says Mr Fernandes, but will wait until its fiercely competing local airlines have killed each other off.

　　【中文对照翻译】

　　亚洲航空公司

　　展翅高飞

　　作为亚洲最成功的航空公司之一，亚航继续扩张

　　如今，亚航几乎飞遍全世界

　　亚航在印度尼西亚首都的新办公室位于45楼，窗外风景壮丽，烟消云散时，景色更美。如果亚航的执行官们偶尔觉得自己主宰着大地，他们这种居高临下的瞬间也许是可以原谅的：毕竟，他们导演了亚洲伟大航空公司走向成功的故事。

　　当成立较早的航空公司，如马来西亚航空和澳洲航空，竭力维持生计之时，刚刚成立10年的亚航，继续征服着蓝天，业绩蒸蒸日上。去年，亚航总载客量达3千万人次，而这一数据年增速保持在10%左右，利润也依然丰厚。虽然缺少中国大型航空公司所有的那种巨大而垄断的国内市场，亚航自称是亚洲第四大航空公司。

　　雅加达办公室开始营业，标志着亚航登上了扩张计划的新台阶。亚航的注册地，仍是其老总Tony Fernandes的祖国马来西亚。然而，雅加达办公室这个崭新的基地，承载着亚航独占人口达6亿的东南亚以及更广地区的希望。对于航空公司来说，雅加达的地势堪称完美：分散的岛屿占据主要地域，因此，不像在欧美，这里几乎没有陆运和高铁相竞争。

　　为实现目标，亚航收购了一家印度尼亚本地航空公司——巴达维亚航空(这项交易仍需注册审批)，从而进入了印度尼西亚国内市场。印度尼西亚经济欣欣向荣，中产阶级人数不断增加，人口数量达2亿4千万，广布于约1万7千座岛屿之上，印度尼西亚的潜力显而易见。巴达维亚航空公司拥有32架客机，加上亚航印尼的18架，阵容可观。除了东南亚地区之外，亚航还和全日航空合作打造了一个崭新的日本国内航空公司，刚刚打入日本市场。日本公司于8月1日开始营业。下一站也许就是韩国了。亚航购入大量新机，凑成一支庞大的机队，载着人们飞往各地。亚航订购了375架单通道A320，目前，是空客该机型的最大客户，并且，不久后还会从空客再订购100架飞机。

　　亚航比印度尼西亚历史较长的“古董级”航空公司收费更低。但是，也不会低至不提供额外服务的欧洲航空公司(这点当初给Fernandes先生带来低价灵感)。幸运的是，亚洲客户宁愿多给点钱，享受优待，也不愿意受到如欧洲航空公司提供的非人待遇。空服人员都接受过良好的培训，潇洒地穿着红色制服。登记手续办理轻松，航班几乎都是准点——而且，所有的航班不会都在凌晨3点起飞。

　　总有一天，其他雄心勃勃的年轻航空公司，如在新加坡之外翱翔的欣丰虎航和捷星亚航，以及菲律宾宿雾太平洋航空和印度尼西亚雄狮航空，都会给亚航带来巨大挑战。但是现在，这些年轻公司还只是追着亚航的尾巴。和其他低成本航空公司一样，亚航要继续扩张，地区高度管制以及运营费昂贵成为了主要阻碍。政客都喜欢修建外表金碧辉煌的机场，导致机票价格上涨15%。人们需要更多物美价廉的航站楼，而不是华而不实的泰姬陵。Fernandes先生指出，“泰国机场税最高，而旅客量增速最低。”

　　至少泰国，马来西亚和新加坡解除了市场管制。其他国家依然没有解除管制，限制了国际国内航班数量。Fernandes先生想在新加坡获取许可证，建立运行点，甚至连这个自由国度也一口回绝了。

　　亚航在其他方面也不尽如人意。今年年初，由于严重亏损，公司不得不削减飞往伦敦和巴利的长途飞机。据Fernandes先生称，主要原因是燃料价格高昂，而欧盟新增加的碳排放税才是“致命一击”。然而，还有其他机遇在向亚航招手，比如印度。印度人口密集，新兴中产阶级规模宏大，其潜力甚至超过印度尼西亚。9月14日，印度政府实施大规模经济改革，政府称，在本次经济改革中，首次允许外国航空公司投资印度航空公司，虽然股权仅限49%。亚航对印度“兴趣浓厚”，Fernandes先生说，但是，要等到印度本地航空公司在猛烈竞争中消灭了对方，才坐收渔翁之利。

　　简介：作为亚洲最成功的航空公司之一，亚航继续扩张。如今，亚航几乎飞遍全世界。亚航在印度尼西亚首都的新办公室位于45楼，窗外风景壮丽，烟消云散时，景色更美。如果亚航的执行官们偶尔觉得自己主宰着大地，他们这种居高临下的瞬间也许是可以原谅的：毕竟，他们导演了亚洲伟大航空公司走向成功的故事。

　　[2012.09.29]

　　AirAsia

　　Spreading its wings

　　One of Asia’s most successful carriers keeps on expanding

　　Sep 29th 2012 | JAKARTA | from the print edition

　　Now flying to almost everywhere

　　THE view from the 45th floor at AirAsia’s new office in the Indonesian capital is spectacular, and even better when the smog lifts. If the airline’s executives occasionally feel masters of all they survey, perhaps they could be forgiven the moments of hubris: they are, after all, at the helm of Asia’s great aviation success story.

　　While older Asian airlines such as Malaysian and Qantas struggle, AirAsia, just ten years old, continues to conquer the skies. Last year it carried 30m passengers, yet their numbers are still growing at around 10% a year, and profits are healthy. It claims to be the fourth-largest airline in Asia despite lacking the huge, captive domestic market of China’s big carriers.

　　The opening of the office in Jakarta marks the start of the next phase of its expansion plans. The airline is still registered in Malaysia, home to its boss, Tony Fernandes, but the Jakarta office is the new base from which it hopes to dominate South-East Asia, with its 600m people, and beyond. It is ideal terrain for airlines: a region dominated by sprawling archipelagoes, where planes therore face little competition from roads and high-speed trains, as they do in Europe or America.

　　To this end AirAsia has bought into the Indonesian domestic market by acquiring a local carrier, Batavia Air (the deal still requires regulatory approval). With a booming economy, a growing middle class and 240m people spread over 17,000 or so islands, Indonesia’s potential is obvious. Batavia’s 32 planes, added to the 18 flown by Indonesia AirAsia, make for a sizeable fleet. And beyond South-East Asia the airline has just broken into the Japanese market, teaming up with All Nippon Airways to launch a new domestic carrier. The service started on August 1st. Next stop, probably, is South Korea. To fly all these people around, AirAsia is amassing an enormous fleet of new planes. It is now the biggest customer for Airbus’s single-aisle A320, with 375 on order, and is expected to order a further 100 planes from Airbus soon.

　　AirAsia’s fares are lower than those of the region’s older “legacy” carriers. But they are not rock-bottom cheap like those of the European no-frills airlines that originally inspired Mr Fernandes. Fortunately for him, Asian customers are prepared to pay a bit more for the privilege of not being treated like European cattle. Cabin crews are well-trained and smartly turned out in red uniforms. Check-in is easy and flights are usually punctual—and don’t all leave at three in the morning.

　　One day AirAsia may face a serious challenge from one of the region’s other young and ambitious carriers, such as Tiger Airways or Jetstar Asia (both operating out of Singapore), the Philippines’ Cebu Pacific or Indonesia’s Lion Air. But for now they are trailing in its wake. The main impediment to AirAsia’s continued expansion, as with other low-cost carriers, is the region’s highly regulated and expensive operating environment. Politicians are fond of building extravagant showpiece airports that end up adding about 15% to the cost of a ticket. What is needed are more cheap-and-cheerful terminals and fewer “Taj Mahals”. As Mr Fernandes notes, “Thailand has the highest airport tax, and the slowest passenger growth.”

　　At least Thailand, together with Malaysia and Singapore, has deregulated its market. Other countries have not, limiting the number of flights between and within them. Even in liberal Singapore, Mr Fernandes has been rebuffed in his attempts to win a licence to set up an operating base.

　　AirAsia has had other disappointments. The long-haul unit of the business had to axe its flights to London and Paris earlier this year because they were losing too much money. High fuel prices were mainly to blame but the EU’s new carbon tax was the “nail in the coffin”, says Mr Fernandes. Other opportunities beckon, however, such as India. Its vast population, enormous size and new middle class dwarf even Indonesia’s. On September 14th, as part of a big package of economic rorms, the Indian government said it would let foreign airlines invest in Indian carriers for the first time, albeit limiting their stakes to 49%. AirAsia is “very interested” in India, says Mr Fernandes, but will wait until its fiercely competing local airlines have killed each other off.

上12下

共2页