AirAsia Zest: Difference between revisions

{{Use mdydmy dates|date=FebruaryNovember 20152022}}

| airline = AirAsia Zest

| logo = AirAsia Zest Logo.svg

| logo_size = 150px

| fleet_size = 15<ref name = stat>{{cite news|last=Camus|first=Miguel|title=AirAsia Zest launches flights to Miri, Malaysia to service OFWs|url=http://business.inquirer.net/148595/airasia-zest-launches-flights-to-miri-malaysia-to-service-ofws|access-date=October 24, 2013|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=October 21, 2013}}</ref>

| destinations = 13<ref name = stat />

| commenced =| {{start date and years ago|1995|09||df=y|1996|4yes}}<br /><{{small|(as ''Asian Spirit'')</small><br />{{start date and years ago|df=y|2008|8}}<br><small>(as ''Zest Air'')</small>

| ceased =| {{endstart date and age|df=y2008|201610|101|df=yes}}<br /><{{small>|(mergedas into''Zest [[Philippines AirAsia]]Air'')</small>}}}}

'''Zest Airways, Inc.''', operated as '''AirAsia Zest''' (formerly '''Asian Spirit''' and '''Zest Air'''), was a [[Low-cost carrierPhilippines|Filipino]] [[low-cost airline]] based at the [[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. In 2013, the airline became an affiliate of [[Philippines AirAsia]] operating their brand separately. Its main base was [[Ninoy Aquino International Airport]], Manila.

The airline was founded as '''Asian Spirit''', the first airline in the Philippines to be run as a [[cooperative]]. OnAfter Augustits 16,acquisition 2013,by theAMY [[CivilHoldings Aviationof Authoritybusinessman of[[Alfredo the PhilippinesYao]] (CAAP)in 2008, the regulatingairline bodywas ofrebranded the Government of the Republic of the Philippines for civil aviation, suspendedas '''Zest Air flights until further notice because of safety issuesAirways'''.<ref name="business.inquirer.net">Santos, M. (August 16,In 2013). Zest Air suspended due to safety breaches. Inquirer.net - Online News Portal of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. http://business.inquirer.net/138721/zest-air-suspended-due-to-safety-issues</ref> Less than a year after AirAsia and Zest Air's strategic alliance, the airline was rebranded as '''AirAsia Zest.''' Theand airlinebecame wasan mergedaffiliate intoof [[AirAsia Philippines AirAsia]] inoperating their Januarybrand 2016separately.

[[File:Asian Spirit NAMC YS-11A MRD-2.jpg|thumb|left|Asian Spirit [[NAMC YS-11]] airliner at [[Sandakan Airport]], Malaysia (August 2007)]][[Image:Asian Spirit Logo.png|thumb|Logo of Asian Spirit]]

AirAsiaAsian ZestSpirit was established as Asian Spirit in September 1995 by three friends: 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.asianspirit.com/about.html |title=Asian Spirit History |access-date=October 3, 2007 |publisher=Asian Spirit Website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819232458/http://www.asianspirit.com/about.html |archive-date=August 19, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=27529 | title = Asian Spirit | access-date = December 20, 2007 | publisher = Tony Lopez, ABS-CBN Interactive}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.philippinebusiness.com.ph/archives/magazine/vol13-2006/13-8/cover_2.htm |title=Asian Spirit: The Niche Player |access-date=October 3, 2007 |publisher=Makati Business Club |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016023622/http://www.philippinebusiness.com.ph/archives/magazine/vol13-2006/13-8/cover_2.htm |archive-date=October 16, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref>

It started operations in April 1996 with two second -hand [[de Havilland Canada Dash 7|Dash 7]] aircraft servicing only one scheduled commercial route with two flights per day from [[Manila]] to [[Malay, Aklan|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, Occidental Mindoro|San Jose]], [[Virac, Catanduanes|Virac]], [[Daet, Camarines Norte|Daet]] and [[Alcantara, Romblon|Alcantara]], and the cities of [[Cauayan, CityIsabela|Cauayan]] and [[Masbate City|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 (Philippines)|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.

TheOn airlineSeptember wanted30, to2008, flyAsian toSpirit threeannounced internationalthat pointsit towould [[Sandakan]],be [[Malaysia]]re-branding fromitself [[Zamboangaas City|Zamboanga]],Zest Airways to [[Seoul]]reflect fromthe [[Kalibo,stake Aklan|Kalibo]],of [[Laoagthe City|Laoag]]owner, and [[DavaoZest-O City|DavaoCorporation]], andin [[Macau]]the from Angeles City. However these international routings never took offairline.<ref>{{citeCite news|author=Amojelar, Darwin G. |url=http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/sept/13/yehey/business/20070913bus12.html |title=Asian Spirit tonow acquirecalled moreZest aircraft for regional expansion |work=[[The Manila Times]] |publisher=Manila Times Publishing CorporationAirways |date=September 13, 2007 |access-date=December 20, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080626023508/http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/sept/13/yehey/business/20070913bus12.html |archive-date=June 2630, 2008 }}</ref> It also intended to commence international expansion to [[Bangkok]] and [[Singapore]] from [[Manila]] in 2009<ref name="refleet">{{cite news |authorfirst=Amojelar,Don DarwinGil GK. |titlelast=Asian Spirit joins refleeting bandwagon |url=http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/nov/06/yehey/business/20071106bus10.htmlCarreon |work=[[The Manila Times]]BusinessWorld |publisher=Manila Times Publishing Corporation |date=November 6, 2007 |access-date=December 20, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209153819/http://www.manilatimesgmanetwork.netcom/nationalnews/2007money/novcompanies/06123855/yeheyasian-spirit-now-called-zest-airways/businessstory/20071106bus10.html |archiveaccess-date=DecemberNovember 91, 20072022 |url-statusvia=dead |df=mdyGMA News}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=MarchIn 2021}}2009, consideringZest establishingAirways intended to establish a hub at [[Clark International Airport|Diosdado Macapagal International Airport]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/213962/zest-air-eyes-dmia-hub-int-l-flights|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817230608/http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/213962/zest-air-eyes-dmia-hub-int-l-flights|archivedate=August 17, 2009|title=Zest Air eyes DMIA as hub for int’lint'l flights|date=August 2, 2009|newspaper=Manila MulletinBulletin}}</ref>

Less than a year after the strategic alliance with [[AirAsia Philippines]], on September 21, the airline was rebranded as "AirAsia Zest". AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes announced that AirAsia Philippines was moving to [[Ninoy Aquino International Airport]]'s Terminal 4 in Manila after winding down its domestic and international flights in [[Clark International Airport|Pampanga]]. 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."<ref>[{{Cite news|title=AirAsia, ZestAir launch rebranded airline |first=Lawrence |last=Agcaoili |work=The Philippine Star |date=September 21, 2013 |url=http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/09/21/13/airasia-zestair-launch-rebranded-airline AirAsia, ZestAir launch rebranded airline | via=ABS-CBN News<!-- Bot generated title -->]}}</ref>

{{main|List of AirAsia Group destinations|List of Zest Airways destinations}}

===Fleet history===

!Year Retiredretired

|[[McDonnell Douglas MD-80|McDonnell Douglas MD-82]]

|[[McDonnell Douglas MD-80|McDonnell Douglas MD-83]]

==IncidentsAccidents and accidentsincidents==

* On December 7, 1999,: [[Asian Spirit Flight 100]], a Let L-410, crashed between [[Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya|Kasibu]] in [[Nueva Vizcaya]] and [[Cabarroguis, Quirino|Cabarroguis]] in [[Quirino]], killing all 15 passengers on board and 2 crew. The plane was headed for [[Cauayan Airport]] in [[Cauayan, CityIsabela|Cauayan]]. The accident forced the closure of the Manila-Cauayan route, which remained closed until Philippine Airlines restarted the route on August 15, 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19991207-0&lang=en|title=ASN Aviation Safety Database|date=December 7, 1999|access-date=April 7, 2007|publisher=aviation-safety.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/553722.stm|title=Philippines crash claims 17 lives|access-date= April 7, 2007|date= December 8, 1999|work= BBC News}}</ref>

* In January 200911, 2009: a [[Xian MA60]] operated by Philippine carrier Zest Airways crashed at [[Caticlan airportAirport]] while trying to land on January 11, 2009. The aircraft landed too short on the runway, skidded out of control and crashed into a concrete barrier. The aircraft caught fire and suffered extensive damage to its wing, landing gear, undercarriage and one engine. Several passengers were injured in that accident.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/picture-zest-ma60-crashes-on-landing-in-philippines-320907/ |title=PICTURE: Zest MA60 crashes on landing in Philippines |work=Flight International |date=January 12, 2009 }}</ref>

* In June 200925, 2009: a Xian MA60 operated by Zest overshot the runway while trying to land at Caticlan airportAirport. As a consequence of this accident, the runway was lengthened and a hill that obstructs one of its approaches was flattened.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/philippines-zest-ma60-overshoots-runway-at-caticlan-328812/ |title=Philippines' Zest MA60 overshoots runway at Caticlan |work=Flight International |date=June 25, 2009 }}</ref>

* On December 30, 2014,: [[AirAsia Zest Flight 272]], an [[Airbus A320-216200]] registered RP-C8972, overshot the runway during landing at [[Kalibo International Airport]]. All 159 passengers and crew survived uninjured.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/world/airasia-flight-overshoots-runway-in-kalibo-philippines-20141230-12frjj.html |title= AirAsia flight overshoots runway in Kalibo, Philippines |date=December 31, 2014 }}</ref>

[[Category:Airlines disestablished in 20162015]]

[[Category:20162015 disestablishments in the Philippines]]