AirAsia’s former right-hand woman to co-founder Tony Fernandes named chief executive officer

She was behind the group’s twenty-fold revenue jump in 2012.

In a statement, AirAsia Expedia (AAE) announced Kathleen Tan as Chief Executive Officer. Kathleen will oversee the Expedia brand, AirAsiaGo, and Backick online travel agency (OTA) businesses in Southeast Asia, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

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.”

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 RM 10 Billion (US$ 3.5 Billion) in 2012.