UPDATE (1:32PM 15 January 2026): AirAsia X has clarified that it is only exploring a possible name change to reflect the consolidation. No definitive decision has been made yet on that front.
The Edge cites the company’s bourse filing as saying that “At this juncture, no definitive decision has been made, and no application has been submitted to the relevant authorities in respect of the proposed change of name. Any such proposal remains subject to internal deliberations, board of directors’ approval, regulatory approvals and shareholders’ approval, where applicable”. Finally, it says “the company will make the requisite announcements, if any, in due course”.
ORIGINAL STORY (2:52PM 13 January 2026):
For about two decades, AirAsia has had a separately named long-haul arm known as AirAsia X. But in a week, the latter name will cease to exist. This is because the company is consolidating its airline businesses as one airline group. And as a result, the long-haul service will also be known simply as AirAsia. This comes from a post on LinkedIn by the co-founder of the business, Tony Fernandes.
On the exact details of the consolidation, The Edge reports that the long-haul AirAsia X is currently in the midst of completing a RM6.8 billion acquisition of the short haul aviation business from Capital A. Once that’s done, the low-cost airline’s name will be the business handling all of its flights, while Capital A becomes the holding company for all of the group’s non-aviation business.
Following that, Fernandes says that Capital A will apply to be uplifted from its PN17 categorisation. This is a classification for financially distressed companies that Bursa Malaysia established since the pandemic, per the report. Fernandes says that this is also happening on 19 January, with a final court hearing on 21 January.
As a result of all this, Fernandes says that other services under the company will also improve. One example is the logistics venture Teleport, which he says “will add more cargo and revenue to the airline”. Then there’s Santan, which “will have better food at a lower cost”.
(Source: Tony Fernandes / LinkedIn, The Edge [1], [2])
