The establishment will serve dishes previously available on the planes of the well-known low-cost Malaysian air carrier.
What once sounded like a joke is now becoming a reality. AirAsia has opened a fast food restaurant that will serve dishes prepared according to the same recipes as served on the airline's aircraft during flights. The facility is already operating at Kuala Lumpur Airport, Malaysia, where the carrier's main transit hub is located.
Food served on airplanes is not considered particularly attractive. But the airline is confident that its restaurant business will be exceptionally popular. Its main highlight will be the national flavor. After all, AirAsia planes serve traditional Malaysian dishes. And now people can enjoy the popular nasi lemak (rice boiled in coconut milk served with spicy sauce) without flying exotic routes. The menu is said to have taken 9 months to complete, but on the 30% it only consists of items served on the aircraft.
At the same time, AirAsia plans to open 5 more similar restaurants in the near future, which will be called Santan (“coconut milk”), already used in on-board menus. Then the company intends to provide a franchise to everyone. It is expected that within 5 years at least 100 restaurants will be opened worldwide, including New York.
This is not AirAsia's first step outside of the aviation business. For example, the company has already launched the AirAsia.com travel planning service and the BigPay payment service. Moreover, there are speculations that AirAsia's digital business, focused on e-commerce and lifestyle offerings, could outperform the aviation business.
