AirAsia X founding shareholder Datuk Seri Kalimullah Hassan, who has served as chairman of the company since its formation, is stepping down, say sources.

Kalimullah is expected to tender his resignation as chairman at the next board meeting. However, he will continue to hold on to his 4.8% stake in the long-haul low-cost carrier (LCC).

Sources say Kalimullah had wanted to resign as chairman as early as September last year but was persuaded to stay on by the board. He is said to have officially tendered his resignation to the board in November last year, but it was  rejected.

“This time, he is firm in relinquishing his position in the fledgling airline. He feels that he has done all that can be done for it and someone else should be given the chance to lead the company,” says the source.

It is said that Kalimullah wants to spend more time with his family and the ECM Libra Education Foundation.

Kalimullah, together with Lim Kian Onn, Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamaruddin Meranun, founded AirAsia X after AirAsia shifted its focus from operating rural services via FlyAsian Xpress in 2006. This was about the same time that FireFly was established. The government gave Malaysia Airlines Bhd a licence to operate a turboprop service from Subang and, at the same time gave Kalimullah and his partners the nod to operate a long-haul LCC.

In the early years, there was scepticism as a long-haul LCC was an unproven model in the aviation world. A pioneer of such a model was Sir Freddie Laker, who founded Laker Airways, which operated between London and New York in the 1970s. It closed shop when full service carriers such as British Airways and Pan Am were able to undercut its prices.

Nearer home in Hong Kong, a couple started Oasis Airlines in 2007, but it went under just a year later.

The long-haul LCC model was viewed in such a negative light that that even AirAsia did not take up a stake in AirAsia X. Kalimullah and Lim took up 10% each in AirAsia X, with the remaining stakes held by Fernandes and Kamarudin.

The start-up capital was RM80 million but today, AirAsia X is worth some US$380 million, based on the entry of Japanese leasing company Orix Corp and Manara Capital of Bahrain. The two investors took up a 10% stake each in AirAsia X for a total sum of US$77.26 million in February 2008. The other shareholders are Virgin Group and AirAsia with 16% each. Kalimulah and Kian Onn have 4.8% each while Fernandes and Kamarudin jointly hold 38%.

There are plans to list AirAsia X. At the moment, the airline has eight wide-body planes, comprising A340s and A330s.

Over the past few years, Kalimullah, the former group editor-in-chief (GEIC) of The New Straits Times Press Bhd and a close associate of former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, has stepped down from various positions. He was the GEIC of NSTP from January 2004 to December 2005.

AirAsia and AirAsia X are managed as two separate companies and have two sets of people running them. Azran Rani is the CEO of AirAsia X while Fernandes effectively manages AirAsia. However, both airlines share some resources such as ground handling to save on costs.

Apart from AirAsia X, Kalimullah also has interests in other ventures within the Tune Group such as Tune Money and Tune Hotels.

This article appeared in Corporate page, The Edge Malaysia, Issue 791, Feb 1-7, 2010