At long last, AirAsia has finally launched its e-hailing service, which it is calling AirAsia Ride, in Malaysia. The company’s new offering, formed from the purchase of ride-sharing provider Dacsee, will compete against Grab and other e-hailing services in the country, and can be accessed via the company’s Super App that also provides food delivery, shopping as well as hotel and flight booking services.
For now, AirAsia Ride is only available in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, but the service will be rolled out to other states such as Penang, Kelantan, Melaka, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak by the end of 2021. According to Amanda Woo, CEO of AirAsia Super App, there are also plans to offer AirAsia Ride in other ASEAN countries like Thailand and Indonesia in the future.
While AirAsia Ride operates in a similar fashion to other e-hailing services, the company says there are notable differences to provide customers with greater convenience. For instance, you’ll be able to choose your preferred driver from a list rather than having the platform assign one to you, with relevant details like the driver’s distance from you and personal profile displayed.
There’s even an Allstar Ride available, where the drivers are AirAsia pilots and cabin crew, depending on availability. This freedom of choice stacks on top of the familiar ability to select your preferred vehicle type (compact, premium, six-seater, premium MPV, taxi or just taking whatever’s available).
In terms of pricing, AirAsia Ride’s fares are set at an average of RM1 per km, excluding toll charges. You will be able to book on-demand rides or pre-book rides in advances, although the latter requires a minimum amount of RM20, Soyacincau reported.
Like with Grab, you’ll also be able to add a tip when placing a booking to provide drivers with an extra incentive to accept the job. Payments can be made with cash or using credit and debit cards, and the company plans to allow passengers to pay for rides using their Big points in the future.
While passengers do have plenty of benefits, AirAsia Ride also implements a “driver-forward” concept that it says will enable its driver-partners to improve their overall income and enjoy a better quality of life. On the former, AirAsia ride imposes a 15% platform fee on its drivers, which is lower than the average 20% in the market, allowing drivers to take home 85% of their fares.
Meanwhile, AirAsia Ride uses data analytics to optimise its drivers’ time to improve efficiency and their earnings. As an example, drivers can be assigned a return airport trip with the shortest wait interval based on the estimated time of arrival of a passenger’s flight.
The company adds that it will not penalise its driver for rejecting assigned trips, which is different from the norm. Instead, it uses an encouragement model that provides drivers with more rewards and benefits for completing more jobs.
At the moment, there are about 1,500 registered driver-partners, but the company expects 5,000 more to come onboard in the next six months with its nationwide expansion. All drivers have the required physical vocational licence (PSV), fully vaccinated, and regularly tested, the company adds.
“There is also the potential for AirAsia Ride to integrate with Teleport, our logistics arm to complement the logistics and delivery services, tapping into the same pool of drivers for maximum efficiency and cost savings, apart from synergising with our e-commerce verticals, supplementing our existing last-mile delivery capabilities with greater capacity and reach,” said Amanda Woo, CEO of AirAsia Super App.
Another exciting product innovation in the pipeline is partnership with electric vehicles, to spearhead the drive for sustainability in mobility for ASEAN,” added Amanda. The company had previously announced plans to launch a flying taxi service, with a pilot project already active in Cyberjaya. Just a few days ago, AirAsia also announced the acquisition of DeliverEat to strengthen its foothold in the food delivery space.
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Could be another Tony con-job. RM1 per km is just a start. Let’s see what other hidden and incremental charges there will be.
They will charge extra for picking you up.
They will charge extra for insurance riding with them.
They will charge extra for stopping at your location of choice.
They will charge extra for Aircon.
They will charge extra for asking to tune down the fengtau music blasting.
have stewardess option or not?
Copycattt… airasia ..
Finally a proper competitor to Grab.
So rather than refund customers, he went and setup another business? Maybe he intends to close down AA and declare bankruptcy so he no need refund unused air tickets.
Yes. Good for the rider not for the driver. Just imagine stuck in the traffic… 1 rm for 1 Km. Wow.
Grab defeated Uber and AirAsia Ride will not stand a chance.
Air asia ride such long name to pick
Grab it just describe everything the company does
Find easy name!
How about Now Everyone Can Ride ?
How to change my phone number at AirAsia ride,i’m dacsee driver
All ehailing company do that, driver is the loser if that happen, that the problem which all ehailaing company turn a blind eye and company expect the driver to absorb the lose.
Air cond will got sur charge. If sit comfortably will got another charge. Don’t get fool by their ride
Preferably what manufactured year of vehicle to be a AIRASIA RIDE service? & How if the Vehicle Grant is not the Driver name but yes in the Car Assurence Stated. Please advise?
How to register as a driver ?
HOW TO CONTACT TO CUSTOMER SERVICE
To WORK AS (*AIR ASIA RIDER MOTORBIKE*)
Good
Rubbish service!!! Just shut it down for godsake,making your own name stinks like garbage.Lousiest ever e-hailing I met in my life
I submitted my documents one week ago and the apps still say under process. Is that normal? I try to find their contact number but unsuccessfull. The ava whapps chat is useless it lead us merry go round
What is the AA ride fare in Sabah ??? Same as Grab?? the paria and ciplak minimum RM4 fare??? what’s the peak hour rate like in Sabah?? what’s the weekend rate like in Sabah?? What’s the mileage calculation like in Sabah?? If the fare for AA ride in Sabah is no difference than Grab in Sabah, screw it dude!!! All cost still incurred by the driver alone at the end of the day, hard day work but 0 returns for the driver . tq
What’s the AA ride fare like in Sabah?? What’s the peak hour fare like in Sabah?? What’s the weekend / festive season fare like in Sabah?? What’s the mileage calculation like in Sabah?? Is it as same as Grab?? The pathetic, paria and ciplak fare of minimum RM4?? If AA ride fare in Sabah is no difference as Grab, screw it dude. Drivers still earn nothing at the end of the day as all cost incurred by the driver alone. tq