AirAsia eyes Brunei, new flights to RI, Cambodia

AirAsia eyes Brunei, new flights to RI, Cambodia

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia's low-cost carrier AirAsia said on Sunday it soon
hopes to fly to Brunei and to new destinations in Indonesia and
Cambodia following the arrival of two new A320 Airbus aircraft in
December.

"We are waiting for approval to fly to Brunei from Kuala
Lumpur," AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes told AFP.

Fernandes said that AirAsia was also planning to establish
flights to key historic sites in Southeast Asia in response to
growing tourist demand.

"We will probably fly to Solo, Indonesia in January and are
waiting for approval to fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia," he said.

Both routes would originate in Kuala Lumpur.

The AirAsia chairman said the new A320 aircraft would have a
capacity of 180 passengers.

AirAsia has ordered 60 A320s with an option for another 40
aircraft which will completely replace its current fleet of 28
single-aisle, 148-seat Boeing 737-300s.

The first will be delivered in December, with the process
continuing through 2011, the company said.

Fernandes dismissed rival budget carriers in Singapore,
saying: "We have huge networks. Kuala Lumpur will become a hub
for low-cost carriers. Singapore can't come near us."

Asked about the chances of AirAsia flying to Singapore, he
said: "Zero".

AirAsia has accused Singapore of discrimination after the city
state last month awarded long sought-after landing rights to a
rival Indonesian carrier.

While AirAsia reported its net profit for the year to June as
111.63 million ringgit (US$29.6 million), budget airline Tiger
Airways, a unit of the state-owned Singapore Airlines, and
JetStar Asia, in which the government has a stake, are
unprofitable, the Financial Times newspaper said last month.

AirAsia recently launched daily flights from Kuala Lumpur and
Bangkok to Phnom Penh, a move that caters to the increasing
number of tourists visiting Cambodia.

AirAsia was launched in December 2001 with just two aircraft
and has since become a significant regional player, with its
business model increasingly imitated by national carriers and a
host of new low-cost entrants.

The airline covers most major cities in Southeast Asia,
linking Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Macau, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Xiamen in China and the Philippines.