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Defunct low-cost airline of the Philippines (1995–2015) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zest Airways, Inc., operated as AirAsia Zest (formerly Asian Spirit and Zest Air), was a Filipino low-cost airline based at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay, Metro Manila in the Philippines. It operated scheduled domestic and international tourist services, mainly feeder services linking Manila and Cebu with 24 domestic destinations in support of the trunk route operations of other airlines.
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| Founded |
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| Commenced operations |
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| Ceased operations |
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| AOC # | 2009003[2] | ||||||
| Operating bases | |||||||
| Fleet size | 15[3] | ||||||
| Destinations | 13[3] | ||||||
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| Headquarters | Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines | ||||||
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| Website | www | ||||||
The airline was founded as Asian Spirit, the first airline in the Philippines to be run as a cooperative. After its acquisition by AMY Holdings of businessman Alfredo Yao in 2008, the airline was rebranded as Zest Airways. In 2013, the airline was rebranded as AirAsia Zest and became an affiliate of Philippines AirAsia operating their brand separately.
The airline was merged together with AirAsia Philippines to form Philippines AirAsia in 2015.[citation needed]
Asian Spirit was established in September 1995 by Antonio "Toti" Turalba, Emmanuel "Noel" Oñate and Archibald Po, who contributed US$1 million each to start up the Airline Employees Cooperative (AEC). They arranged for 36 of their friends, mostly former Philippine Airlines employees, to run Asian Spirit through a salary-to-equity swap deal. The Po family held the majority of ownership.[5][6][7]
It started operations in April 1996 with two second-hand Dash 7 aircraft servicing only one scheduled commercial route with two flights per day from Manila to Malay, serving the fledgling resort island of Boracay. To maximise its aircraft utilisation, it introduced new routes to the present-day towns of San Jose, Virac, Daet and Alcantara, and the cities of Cauayan and Masbate, regarded as secondary and tertiary routes by Air Transportation Office, and not serviced by major airlines. In 1997, the cooperative changed to a corporate set-up with the establishment of Asian Spirit, Inc., whose registration was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2005.
At the time, Asian Spirit has the distinction of being the first scheduled airline to serve Caticlan Airport, the nearest airport serving Boracay. Other operators served the airport on a charter basis then. It became the Philippines' fourth flag carrier (after Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines) in 2003.
The airline planned to fly to three international destinations to Sandakan, Malaysia from Zamboanga, to Seoul from Kalibo, Laoag, and Davao, and Macau from Angeles City. However these international routings never took off.[8] It also intended to commence international expansion to Bangkok in 2007.[9]
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In January 2008, Asian Spirit was sold to AMY Holdings, a holding company controlled by businessman Alfredo Yao.[10] The acquisition was completed on March 29 of that year.[11] After the success of the takeover, Yao expressed interest in merging Asian Spirit with South East Asian Airlines (SEAIR).[12] Yao had been expected to purchase a sixty percent stake in SEAIR,[10] but the merger talks failed and both airlines continued to operate independently.[11]
On September 30, 2008, Asian Spirit announced that it would be re-branding itself as Zest Airways to reflect the stake of the owner, Zest-O Corporation, in the airline.[13] In 2009, Zest Airways intended to establish a hub at Diosdado Macapagal International Airport.[14]
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On March 11, 2013, Zest Airways signed a share swap agreement with AirAsia Philippines. The share swap deal involved exchange of shares between the owner of Zest Airways, Filipino shareholders of AirAsia Philippines, Inc. and AirAsia Berhad of Malaysia.[15] On the same day, the airlines announced a strategic alliance that would integrate the operations of both airlines while still operating as separate entities.[16] The deal closed on May 10, 2013.[17]
On August 16, 2013, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) suspended the airline's air operating certificate due to safety issues.[18] The suspension was lifted on August 20.[19]
Less than a year after the strategic alliance with AirAsia Philippines, on September 21, the airline was rebranded as "AirAsia Zest". During its initial phases, ZestAir's website carried an image of an aircraft featuring AirAsia's signature red livery and the Zest title on the body and AirAsia's signature red livery on the tail. The rebranded airline has a new theme "AirAsia Zest, the right way to fly."[20]
AirAsia Zest eventually merged with AirAsia Philippines in 2015 to form Philippines AirAsia. This merger effectively phased out the AirAsia Zest brand. Both airlines completed the transition to a single operating certificate in September of that year.[21] AirAsia Zest then ceased operations on December 6, 2015.[1]
Zest Airways served the following destinations prior to August 2013, when its operating license was revoked:
AirAsia Zest and its predecessors operated the following aircraft during its existence:[25][26]
| Aircraft | Year retired |
|---|---|
| Airbus A320-200 | 2015 |
| British Aerospace ATP | 2008 |
| British Aerospace 146-100 | 2008 |
| British Aerospace 146-200 | 2008 |
| CASA/IPTN CN-235 | 2008 |
| de Havilland Canada Dash 7 | 2009 |
| Let-410 | 2008 |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | 2008 |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 2008 |
| NAMC YS-11 | 2008 |
| Xian MA60 | 2013 |
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