So, for the sake of getting the answer to that question, we decided to try out this service. Surprisingly enough, it’s more convenient than you might think, though it does have its limits. Firstly, the intercity deliveries are only done once a week on Wednesdays with a single slot for 5:00-5:30 PM, so it’s definitely not something you should use in order to satisfy your on-the-spot cravings.
One convenient thing is that you can pre-order up to 30 days in advance, which is very useful if you plan to serve a roomful of Penang foodies at a party. Although, one gripe I have about this new service is that there are very few restaurants involved at the moment, which is disappointing – especially if you’re looking for a specific Penang-based restaurant or delicacy that you’re itching for. But fret not, airasia says it plans to add more merchants in the future. Prior to delivery, airasia informed us that we were apparently the first batch of customers to order and receive the delivery, which isn’t all that surprising given that the Intercity service was only recently announced on Monday. The food did arrive at our office yesterday (Wednesday, 17 August) at just around the 5.30 PM mark, which is still within the promised time frame. Also, it was raining at the time, so we would’ve still given airasia’s rider a pass if the food arrived a bit later. To our delightful shock, the mee goreng sotong we ordered was still warm to the touch and arrived in perfect condition. A company representative we spoke to assured us that it wasn’t reheated or anything of the sort. Instead, the food is transported inside an insulated foam container to ensure that it doesn’t go cold throughout its 300km journey.
Air-Flown From Penang
So how does freshly-cooked food make its way from Penang to Klang Valley? Well, the orders are actually flown directly from the Penang International Airport to KLIA2. From what we’ve been told, riders will pick up the food from the participating restaurants every Wednesday and take them to the airport. Once there, another delivery person will actually bring the orders onto a commercial airasia flight in the afternoon. We were a bit surprised that airasia isn’t utilising the cargo planes of Teleport — Capital A’s logistics arm — for this service.
Once it reaches KLIA2, all food orders are then transported to a hub in KL Sentral where each order is distributed and delivered to its respective final destination. All of this is done with a delivery fee of only RM5.99 per order, which is pretty reasonable if you are a Penang food lover. Not to mention that this actually saves you a whole trip to the state just to enjoy its delicacies.
Conclusion
On another note, the food we received was actually from our second order, as we had to cancel our first one after finding out it was non-halal. Unlike the other restaurants on airasia food, most of the merchants under the app’s intercity delivery category lack a halal/non-halal label, though the company has promised to rectify this issue. You won’t be penalised for cancelling orders, by the way. While the new intercity food delivery feature’s limited offering may satisfy a small number of people, I see the speed at which the company can increase the number of merchants as the main factor on whether or not it will be a success. That being said, the company definitely already have the logistics down. On top of sprucing up the service’s restaurant and food selection, airasia told us that they have plans to expand intercity food delivery to also include even more Malaysian states in the future.
