AirAsia Zest

Zest Airways, Inc., operated as AirAsia Zest (formerly Asian Spirit and Zest Air), was a Filipino low-cost airline based at 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.

The airline was founded as Asian Spirit, the first airline in the Philippines to be run as a cooperative. After its acquisition by AMY Holdings of businessman Alfredo Yao in 2008, the airline was rebranded as Zest Airways. In 2013, the airline was rebranded as AirAsia Zest and became an affiliate of Philippines AirAsia operating their brand separately.

The airline was merged with AirAsia Philippines to form Philippines AirAsia in 2015.

History

Beginnings as Asian Spirit

Asian Spirit was established in September 1995 by Antonio "Toti" Turalba, Emmanuel "Noel" Oñate and Archibald Po, who contributed US$1 million each to start up the Airline Employees Cooperative (AEC).

Accidents and incidents

As Asian Spirit

7 December 1999: Asian Spirit Flight 100, a Let L-410, crashed between Kasibu in Nueva Vizcaya and Cabarroguis in Quirino, killing all 15 passengers on board and 2 crew. The plane was headed for Cauayan Airport in Cauayan. The accident forced the closure of the Manila-Cauayan route, which remained closed until Philippine Airlines restarted the route on 15 August 2008.[27][28]
4 September 2002: Asian Spirit Flight 897 was the last flight of the day to Malay, departing Manila at 3:36pm for a one-hour flight. During the approach to Malay, the right main gear failed to deploy. The approach was abandoned and the crew decided to return to Manila for an emergency landing. The plane circled for about 35 minutes over Las Piñas to burn off fuel. The crew then carried out an emergency landing with the right gear retracted on Manila's international airport runway 24. After touchdown the aircraft swerved off the runway onto a grassy area.[29]
14 November 2005: Asian Spirit Flight 587, a BAe-146-200, reportedly hydroplaned and overran runway 04/22, a 4,429-foot (1350 m) long concrete runway at Catarman National Airport. The aircraft came to rest in a muddy rice field.[30]
2 January 2008, Asian Spirit Flight 321, an NAMC YS-11 departing from Manila, overshot the runway at Masbate Airport at 7:30am, due to heavy tailwinds with gusts reaching 14 knots while landing on runway 21. Although none of the 47 passengers were seriously injured, the aircraft was badly damaged.[31]

As Zest Airways

11 January 2009: a Xian MA60 operated crashed at Caticlan Airport while trying to land. 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.[32]
25 June 2009: a Xian MA60 operated by Zest overshot the runway while trying to land at Caticlan Airport. As a consequence of this accident, the runway was lengthened and a hill that obstructs one of its approaches was flattened.[33]

As AirAsia Zest

30 December 2014: AirAsia Zest Flight 272, an Airbus A320-200 registered RP-C8972, overshot the runway during landing at Kalibo International Airport. All 159 passengers and crew survived uninjured.[34]

airline	AirAsia Zest
fleet size	15‡R1R‡
destinations	13‡R1R‡
iata	6K (1995–2008) Z2 (2008–2015)
icao	RIT (1995–2008) EZD (2008–2015)
callsign	ASIAN SPIRIT (1995–2008) ZEST (2008–2015)
founded	September 1995 (as Asian Spirit) October 1, 2008 (as Zest Air)
commenced	March 29, 1996 (as Asian Spirit) September 30, 2008 (as Zest Air) October 21, 2013 (as AirAsia Zest)
ceased	September 30, 2008 (as Asian Spirit) October 21, 2013 (as Zest Air) December 6, 2015‡R2R‡ (merged into Philippines AirAsia)
parent	AMY Holdings (2008–2015) Philippines AirAsia (2013–2015)
aoc	2009003‡R3R‡
headquarters	Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines
key people	• Marianne Hontiveros (Chairman) • Joy Cañeba (CEO)‡R4R‡
bases	Cebu Kalibo Manila
website	www.airasia.com

History

Beginnings as Asian Spirit

Rebranding as Zest Airways

Partnership with AirAsia and merger

Destinations

Fleet

Accidents and incidents

As Asian Spirit

As Zest Airways

As AirAsia Zest

See also

External links

References