KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 16): In support of its transformation into a travel and financial platform company, AirAsia Group Bhd said it has reorganised its leadership team to spearhead the changes.

Group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes will double up as CEO of airasia.com, AirAsia's travel and lifestyle e-commerce platform.

AirAsia said it will appoint a new CEO who will report to Fernandes in due course.

Joining Fernandes are AirAsia chief commercial officer Karen Chan, who will drive all commercial functions as airasia.com's chief commercial officer, and Spencer Lee, who will take up the role of airasia.com chief operating officer managing the online business portfolio that includes OURSHOP, AirAsia WiFi (ROKKI), hotel partnerships and others.

A chief product officer for airasia.com will also be appointed to head up the product teams, while AirAsia Software Engineering and Technology (AASET) head Elias Vafiadis will continue to lead software engineering, all reporting to Fernandes in the interim.

"We are taking travel to another level by giving our guests a truly integrated and end-to-end experience,” Fernandes said in  statement.

“Not just flights but hotels, activities, lifestyle, e-commerce and more. Right at the heart of this is airasia.com, which will be a lifestyle brand that offers a frictionless travel experience of discovery, booking, pricing, branding, deals for all our products and partnerships.

“To make this work, we have to have the right structure in place and with today's changes, I believe we have put in place the right foundations that will allow us to really drive our digital and ancillary business, which I see eventually contributing up to 70% to earnings,” Fernandes said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, AirAsia group deputy CEO (airlines) Bo Lingam has been appointed as AirAsia Group Bhd president (airlines) and will also head up AirAsia SEA (formerly known as AirAsia Global Shared Services), a shared services centre that provides corporate and support services to AirAsia.

Bo will continue to run the core airline business and drive customer service improvements and cost efficiencies through digitalisation and the One AirAsia initiative.

Aireen Omar has been appointed as AirAsia Group Bhd president (RedBeat ventures) and will head the corporate venture capital arm.

In this role, AirAsia said she will focus on seeking out new companies and technologies to power the group's core business while still overseeing the company's digital businesses such as BigPay, Teleport and AirAsia BIG Loyalty.