Bangkok and Kota Kinabalu airports – new Southeast Asian hubs? A Capital dream for Tony Fernandes

Capital A Group's CEO Tony Fernandes has built a remarkable empire of airlines in Southeast Asia. He has often spoken about owning airports too, but has done little about it.

This year he has twice identified the potential for new air hubs - firstly in Bangkok, and latterly at Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia's Sabah State, in both cases comparing them to the global role filled by Dubai.

Capital A airlines would play a key part in developing each of them.

In Bangkok's case, services are split between two airports, each with an identified role, and three if you count the U-Tapao/Rayong/Pattaya airport to the south. That doesn't bear comparison with Singapore, but a collection of Capital A airlines operating there at one location would make a difference.

Kota Kinabalu is a different prospect, with seven million passengers in 2023 and less than 10 million at its peak. 'KK', as it is known, which is already a tourist haven, might be better suited to attracting new markets as a stopover point if Mr Fernandes' vision should materialise.

The key question in all this is whether or not Mr Fernandes is going to put his money where his mouth is, and commit to investing in and operating airports as he has often indicated he is interested in doing but without actually having tied the knot with any of them.