Once upon a time, there was an airline named after a Filipino favorite orange juice, Zest Air. In fact, the cabin did smell like orange juice too! It was indeed the country’s most “refreshing airline.” Zest-o is indeed a staple in Filipino gatherings. An ice-cold tetra pack of Zest-o is truly refreshing, especially during the hot weather. So what is the relation between Zest Air and Zest-o? It’s time to look back to 2008 in a time when Zest Air was also known as an “ultra low-cost airline”. Yes, they had also the cheapest fares in its time.
Zest Air became the Philippines’s 3rd low cost airline during that time after it transitioned from Asian Spirit when businessman Alfredo Yao of AMY Holdings that time bought it. He is also the founder of Zesto Corporation, the company behind the famous Zesto-O orange drink! Now there is the connection as to why this airline was named after the orange juice drink! Same as how Cebu Pacific was named after the Gokongweis’s birthplace which is Cebu.
During that time, other low cost airlines operating in the Philippines were Cebu Pacific and AirPhil Express.
Asian Spirit beginnings
Zest Air started out as Asian Spirit in 1995. Asian Spirit then began operations in 1996 with two used De Havilland Canada DHC-7 or “Dash 7”. It served only one route which was Manila to Caticlan, the gateway to Boracay Island.
Asian Spirit later on served the towns of San Jose, Virac, Daet and Alcantara, and the cities of Cauayan and Masbate. They also had flights from Manila to Baguio using NAMC YS-11 turboprops. Asian Spirit carried the distinction of being the first airline to serve the Manila – Caticlan route on scheduled basis.
The shift from Asian Spirit to Zest Air, the ‘orange juice’ airline
Asian Spirit was sold to AMY Holdings, the company of Alfredo M. Yao. His flagship business is Zest-o Corporation. The rebranding from Asian Spirit to Zest Air is an allusion to Zest-o juice.
Zest Air started with a fleet of two Airbus A320 jets and around four Chinese-made Xian MA60 turboprop which is based on the Russian-built Antonov AN-24.
Competition in the low-cost airline segment became stiffer, as all Cebu Pacific, AirPhil Express, and Zest Air slugged it out to gain market share. While Cebu Pacific was still taking lead, AirPhil Express and Zest Air were infact offering lower fares. The only problem Zest Air had was that Chinese-made MA-60 turboprop. Two incidents of MA-60s overshooting and skidding off the runway at Caticlan Airport have given the impression to travellers that the MA-60s are dangerous to fly on. At the same time, news circulated that the Chinese-made turboprops were not certified by the FAA and the EASA.
Zest Air began to add more Airbus A320 to its fleet in order to add more capacity and to overtake AirPhil Express in terms of market share and growth rate. Airbus jets were slowly replacing the MA-60s.
Zest Air, the “orange juice” airline was gaining strength.
The move to AirAsia Zest
In 2013, Zest Air signed a share swap deal with AirAsia Philippines who was operating from Clark that time. AirAsia Philippines that time was still a domestic airline with foreign interest from AirAsia Berhad of Malaysia. The deal involved the swap of shares between the three parties. Prior to the swap, Air Asia was not able to get slots in Manila due to the congestion of the airport.
Less than a year after, Zest Air was rebranded as AirAsia Zest, carrying both the AirAsia and Zest Air brand where Air Asia Philippines would be moving its operations to Manila. The livery of the new brand used that of AirAsia with a “Zest” on it.
In 2015, AirAsia Zest formally became Philippines AirAsia.
Today, the former competition between Cebu Pacific, AirPhil Express, and Zest Air still lives on. Cebu Pacific remained the same. AirPhil Express later on became PAL Express and Zest Air is now Philippines AirAsia.
While we do recall those days of vibrant orange and green, we are happy that Philippines AirAsia is now able to serve the country and compete in the low cost sector. More competition and more options are definitely beneficial to the flying public.
So if you see a Philippines AirAsia aircraft, never forget that it was once an “orange juice”.
