Bangkok--4 Jan--AirAsia
AirAsia Expedia (AAE), the unique joint venture between AirAsia, the world’s best low cost airline, and the Expedia group, the world's largest online travel company today announced Kathleen Tan’s ascension to Chief Executive Officer of AAE while AirAsia declared the promotion of Siegtraund Teh to take on Kathleen’s responsibilities as Group Chief Commercial Officer of AirAsia.
In her new role, Kathleen will oversee the Expedia brand, AirAsiaGo, and Backick online travel agency (OTA) businesses in Southeast Asia, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Siegtraund meanwhile, will take over for Kathleen in managing AirAsia’s commercial team and implementing commercial performance improvements across the AirAsia group.
Dara Khosrowshahi, Expedia group President and Chief Executive Officer said, “We are thrilled to have a business leader of Kathleen’s caliber join the AirAsia Expedia joint venture. She has an impressive track record in building AirAsia into Asia’s biggest low-cost carrier over the past eight years, and we are delighted to have those skills brought to the AirAsia Expedia joint venture. Furthermore, her substantial knowledge of Asia’s travel landscape and proven business acumen will be immensely valuable in taking AAE to future heights.”
Kathleen previously served as AirAsia’s Group Head of Commercial and Senior Vice President of China since 2004, acting as Group Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Tony Fernandes’s right-hand woman managing AirAsia’s top-line performance and overseeing up to fifteen departments across the six AirAsia-branded airlines. During the past eight years, Kathleen’s strategic vision, boldness, and leadership have grown AirAsia’s revenue twenty-fold to over THB 100 Billion (US$ 3.5 Billion) in 2012. Kathleen has scaled up AirAsia’s network from less than twenty planes to nearly 130 planes, creating the #1 low-cost carrier in Asia-Pacific, the biggest airline network in Southeast Asia, and the top foreign LCC into China. In addition, Kathleen has transformed AirAsia’s brand into one exemplified by its signature cool, bold red and recognized and admired worldwide. The brand has won numerous accolades, culminating in being named “World’s Best Low Cost Carrier” an unprecedented four years running by 19 million travelers voting on Skytrax, and the brand equity is now valued at an impressive US$428 Million by Brand Finance Plc. As such, Kathleen is a highly-respected figure in the travel industry, including being named a Top 10 Most Influential Woman Leader in Travel by WebInTravel and being dubbed an “aviation legend” by Baidu, China’s largest search engine.
Kathleen has always been a pioneer, from having the foresight to spot the immense potential of China and making AirAsia the first low-cost carrier serving China in 2005, to driving product innovation, including assigned seating, mobile booking, and ancillary sales online. She has also spearheaded AirAsia’s social media strategy and development early on. AirAsia’s social media presence is ranked #1 in Asia-Pacific by multiple metrics. As an avid social junkie, Kathleen herself has over 200,000 fans on Sina Weibo and is ranked in the top 2000 most influential social media users among around 300 million Weibo users. Remarkably, her individual Weibo account would rank as #4 among airlines in China.
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer said, “Kathleen came to Malaysia not knowing anything about aviation, but her determination has led her to overcome every challenge and today she holds the pulse of Asia’s travel market. As AirAsia progresses towards the second decade of success, we feel comfortable in letting Kathleen move to AirAsia Expedia.
“Our focus for the next five years is ancillary and adjacent business. The potential of AirAsia Expedia is enormous. Having Kathleen driving the business gives me huge encouragement and I am sure AAE and the OTA industry will escalate tremendously when Kathleen gets to work her unique style of brand-building, sales and profits growth” he added.
Kathleen is no stranger to the OTA industry, having managed the AirAsiaGo OTA business profitably prior to it being transferred to the AAE joint venture upon formation. She drove the joint venture formation discussions with the Expedia group, representing AirAsia, and has served on AAE’s board of directors since day one.
On her part, Kathleen said, “The last eight years in AirAsia have been the most awesome ride I ever had in my career. I thank Tony, Kamarudin and the AirAsia Board, who always have had the greatest faith in me and have given me the opportunity to fly high in the world of AirAsia. And a big thank you to my wonderful commercial staff and Allstars in AirAsia who embraced and inspired me every day. I am truly delighted to take on a new challenge in the OTA industry which is a natural progression, as travel still excites me greatly. Indeed, it’s a big honour to work for two of the world's most powerful brands and I'm excited by my new appointment. I look forward to taking AAE to another level and build further growth.”
“Asian consumers can look forward to the widest range of travel products at great prices with AirAsia Expedia,” she added.
Meanwhile, as a core member of the AirAsia regional team, Siegtraund brings with her a wealth of experience principally gained from a senior level commercial role with AirAsia.
AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said of both the developments; “These promotions are part of the process of putting the right people in place to be ready for continued growth. Siegtraund has been a tremendous contributor to our commercial success. A person with strong commercial focus, a huge thirst for continuous improvement and an excellent understanding of our business goals. Her dedication in delivering work of the highest professional standards has ensured the achievement of objectives and other business requirements. I am confident that she will be able to build on our creative commercial strengths and take the airline forward.
“Our ability to continue to develop and promote from within is one of our most important values. AirAsia has succeeded so well because we always have a deep reservoir of talents, and we are able to grow and change because we always have people ready to step up. We are constantly grooming in-house talents and rewarding them in the most tangible ways — by inviting them to step up to bigger and more challenging roles as we grow and expand. We invest substantially in our own talent as it secures continued growth and push us to position ourselves as an even stronger industry leader” he added.
Siegtraund joined the commercial function in 2007. She played a crucial role in laying down AirAsia’s footprints into North Asia, especially China. Siegtraund was part of the team responsible in building the vast network and launching new routes. In her regional role, she aligned all aspects of regional campaigns responsible for the development of comprehensive plans to ensure the success of multi-channel initiatives in marketing.
Siegtraund has taken on increasingly senior marketing roles over the years. In 2012, Siegtraund was seconded to AirAsia Japan to assist in building the commercial and marketing start-up of that new entity, whilst continuing with her role as Group Marketing Manager.
Kathleen Tan
Siegtraund Teh