KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Group Bhd chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes expects the airline to turn around at the pre-Covid-19 level in six to nine months "if the borders are open tomorrow".

Fernandes said AirAsia was seeing further recovery in flight activities and more Asean countries had vaccinated their populations.

He also said that the group intended to rehire when the travel and aviation industry improved.

The company furloughed some 2,000 employees during the past 18 months.

"The demand is there we can get to pre-Covid-19 just like that. That is not an issue as we have the planes, the people and we have the demand. It is really up to the governments now to be brave and we now have to live with Covid-19.

"But I am optimistic. We are seeing more and more countries are opening up their borders including Singapore and Thailand. If borders are open tomorrow, three months we will be back to normal but my guess is six to nine months for us to be back to pre-Covid level," he told reporters after announcing the appointment of former adidas executive Colin Currie as the group's chief commercial officer today.

Currie will develop a consumer centric strategy using data to optimise growth and meet the financial objectives across AirAsia's airlines and digital units.

Prior to joining adidas, Currie worked in the music and entertainment industry as managing director of Sony BMG Music Malaysia.

Before that, Currie developed a broad knowledge of marketing in Hong Kong and Australia through key marketing positions with Citibank, Ansett Australia and Telstra Mobile.