KUALA LUMPUR: TransNusa Airline has rebranded itself as a premium air travel service carrier in Southeast Asia and expects a significant growth in 2024 with its expansion plan in the pipeline.
With a bold rebranding and ambitious expansion plans, the airline said it is committed to providing unparalleled service and comfort to its passengers.
TranNusa was established in 2005 and stopped operation in 2020 due to the global pandemic.
TransNusa was then sold and saw the injection of new shareholders and a new management team in 2022.
The new shareholders are PT Panca Global International Indonesia (51 per cent) and Singapore-based Linkasia Airlines Group Ltd (49 per cent).
The new management team in TransNusa developed a unique business model that allowed the airline to rebrand itself as a premium service carrier.
TransNusa group chief executive officer Datuk Bernard Francis, who was instrumental to developing the airline's customised business plan and growth path, said TransNusa has become the fastest growing airline in Southeast Asia due to the business plan that was developed and implemented swiftly post Covid-19.
"Post Covid-19, we initiated an intensive market research. Based on the data obtained, we knew that traveller's behavioural pattern had changed, specifically due to the pandemic. Our next step was to develop a customised business model for the targeted passengers," he said in a statement today.
Bernard said the business model was implemented on April 14, coinciding with the launch of their inaugural international flight.
He added that the airline had accommodated over one million passengers between October 2022 and December 2023.
"We want to offer our domestic and international passengers' greater comfort and flexibility, hence the decision to rebrand ourselves globally," Bernard said, adding that TransNusa is also the fastest growing airline to expand operation to include international routes."
In April 2023, in line with the new business model expansion plan, TransNusa expanded its reach from domestic to international with the launch of its Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur route.
Subsequently in the same year, in a short span of eight months, the airline also launched three new routes, which were Jakarta-Singapore, Jakarta-Guangzhou and Jakarta-Johor.
TransNusa has increased its flight frequencies to seven times a week to Singapore, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China and Johor Bahru.
TransNusa has also increased its flight frequencies to 21 times weekly to Kuala Lumpur, 14 times weekly to Yogyakarta and 35 times weekly to Bali.
On the airline's future expansion, Bernard said the plan is to further expand its international routes and assist more passengers travel with ease to their destinations
He said as part of its domestic growth plans, TransNusa intends to establish another domestic hub.
"For the first two quarters, we hope to expand our domestic routes as well as establish another domestic hub, providing our domestic market with premium services that will set it apart from low-cost carriers.
"Since the take-over, TransNusa has been aggressively implementing plans that sets the airline apart from other low-cost carriers through the comfort and flexibility offered as a premium service carrier, " he added.