AirAsia restaurant concept brings its inflight menu down to earth

A new AirAsia restaurant opened in a Kuala Lumpur shopping mall is serving inflight meals on the ground.

The Malaysian-headquartered budget carrier has opened its first restaurant Santan and T&CO in Kuala Lumpur, marking its footprint in the retail food business. More outlets are already being planned along with an offshore foray.

Located at the Mid Valley Megamall, the AirAsia restaurant offers dishes from its existing inflight menu, including Pak Nasser’s nasi lemak, Nyonya curry laksa and signature Malaysian rice dish with chili condiment.

Santan and T&CO feature a smart menu to recommend popular dishes based on time, past ordering patterns as well as demographic taste. Customers also can order directly from the restaurant’s website and mobile app.

“We have seen a significant appetite for our in-flight menu offerings beyond our flights across the region and this is our answer to that demand,” says Catherine Goh, general manager of Santan and T&CO restaurant.

Believing in the potential success of the new concept, Group CEO of AirAsia Tony Fernandes is already planning to franchise the brand internationally.

The company plans to open five outlets this year and 100 outlets over the next five years with expansions in global markets.