AirAsia exploring potential listing on HKEX
發佈日期: 2025-08-04 20:07
TVB News
Malaysian budget airline AirAsia says it's exploring a potential listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The company's CEO revealed he aims to complete the listing application by June next year, adding that he believes the move could expand the airline's presence in the mainland China market.
Hong Kong's frequent flyers might often see aircraft under this Malaysian brand at various airports around Asia.
One of the continent's largest budget airlines, AirAsia currently operates more than 200 planes and offers flights to over 130 locations, with more than 20 of them being in China.
The carrier's owner, Capital A, announced in May that the company is planning to get listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) -- a secondary listing to its original base in Malaysia.
Speaking with TVB News, Capital A's CEO Tony Fernandes said there is a greater trading volume in Hong Kong when compared with Singapore or the U.S., adding that listing in the city allows the company to accelerate growth in the mainland China market.
Yeah, without a doubt.
That's definitely a strategic angle.
It's not just about getting capital.
It's about expanding our businesses in Hong Kong and China.
I've always been excited by Hong Kong and so the market is more liquid.
You can see presently it's a very exciting stock market, it's moving up very aggressively.
There's not much volume in the Singapore market.
It's a lot of stocks that don't have a lot of trading value.
So, Nasdaq is a great market as well, but it's just a little bit far and we would be less relevant.
We don't have a lot of business in America.
This as Hong Kong experienced a growth of businesses from the Middle East and Southeast Asia choosing to list in the city as a result of authorities' efforts to strengthen economic ties with such regions.
Some Malaysian economists believe Capital A's listing bid, if successful, could assist the promotion of Hong Kong as a trade hub in the ASEAN region, with more companies following the budget airline's footsteps.
I think this is a dualist thing, so they need to set up another legal entity to list there.
Maintaining listing at two exchanges will be quite costly in terms of compliance as well as all the other costs that are involved in maintaining listing.
