The CEO of Capital A, the investment arm of the AirAsia Aviation Group, has ruled out a listing Philippines AirAsia (Z2, Manila Ninoy Aquino International) on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) in the foreseeable future but says he intends to pump USD1 billion into the carrier to expand its operations there.

CEO Tony Fernandes made the comments while signing a letter of intent (LOI) at a meeting in Malaysia this week with Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The LOI addressed Capital A's plans to expand the network and fleet in the Philippines, in addition to building an MRO facility at Cagayan de Oro Laguindingan and ramping up its logistics presence.

"We're excited about what we can do in the Philippines," said Fernandes. "Over the next few years, we think we'll invest about USD1 billion into the Philippines. We have about USD300 million so far. We want to grow our aircraft from 23 to 50, including wide-body aircraft. We are just applying for the license now."

Prospects of an IPO for Philippines AirAsia have been floating around for several years, egged along by Fernandes raising the idea now and again. However, he now says IPO plans are on hold "for the time being."

Instead, Fernandes wanted to discuss bolstering the footprint of Philippines AirAsia at Cebu, a city of almost one million people. "There is a huge potential in Cebu," he said, noting that the low-cost carrier already flies to Caticlan, Davao, Puerto Princesa, Manila Ninoy Aquino International. Seoul Incheon, Taipei Taoyuan, and Tokyo Narita from the airport. Fernandes said Philippines AirAsia also wanted direct flights to airports in Thailand, Australia, and Indonesia.

According to the ch-aviation PRO airlines module, Philippines AirAsia operates a fleet of twenty-five A320-200s (ten are inactive) to 26 destinations in nine countries and territories, including Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Malaysia.

The Capital A CEO pointedly praised the Aboitiz Group, who manage Cebu's Mactan International Airport, saying that privately run airports focused on their customers (like Philippines AirAsia) and facilitating them was good government policy. He said developers looking to construct airports in the Philippines should not just focus on full-service facilities, but also build low-cost terminals that better fit the existing market.

“I don’t need Rolls Royce airports. I need airports that are simple. The best return on capital is in low-cost airports. People like to build mausoleums and palaces in airports. But the masses don’t need that. The masses need simple facilities to go from A to B,” he said.

Fernandes also spruiked his plans to build AirAsia's logistic business in the country, having previously said AirAsia will deploy some incoming A321-200(P2F)s to the market under its Teleport logistics brand. “The Philippines is a perfect place to grow our logistics. It's kind of within the middle of ASEAN, north and south Asia, and it has a fantastic route to the West coast of America.”

During the part of the meeting with Marcos that the media attended, Fernandes said it was "always a pleasure" doing business with the current Filipino administration. "It's fantastic to have a transparent and willing-to-listen President," he said.