AirAsia to fly to Indonesia in February

AirAsia to fly to Indonesia in February

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia's budget airline AirAsia will fly to neighboring Indonesia in February next year in a move to capture a share of the market in Southeast Asia's most populated country, a top official said on Monday.

"We expect to fly to Indonesia in February out of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Senai Airport in southern Johor state," Kamarudin Meranun, AirAsia's executive director, told AFP.

"We should be getting the approval from the Indonesian authorities."

The likely destinations are Surabaya and Denpasar with Medan at a later stage, another official said on condition of anonymity.

Indonesia would be AirAsia's second regional destination after Thailand.

AirAsia's announcement comes as national carrier Malaysia Airlines on Saturday said it would mount three weekly flights to Indonesia's Padang in West Sumatera on a code-share basis with Indonesia's Garuda.

Malaysia Airlines said it would operate a configured Boeing 737-400 aircraft with 16 first-class seats and 128 economy tickets in a code-sharing agreement with Garuda.

"(The) flight to Padang in West Sumatera adds to the growth of the air transport network in this vast and popular region and opens up seamless connectivity to world travel," Ahmad Fuaad Dahlan, senior general manager said in a statement.

AirAsia, which flew its first regional route on December 8 to Phuket, plans to float some 25 percent of its shares in late 2004 to fund an ambitious expansion plan and fight off competition.

It would begin to fly to Bangkok from January 15 out of KLIA and Senai Airport in February.

AirAsia said the initial public offering (IPO) would be issued "as early as September 2004" and that it is looking at raising US$600 million to $1 billion.

The carrier took delivery of two Boeing 737-300 aircraft in October, increasing its fleet to nine, and it aims to have 22 aircraft by late 2004.

It has held talks with Richard Branson's Virgin Blue Holdings on issues including the possibility of Virgin taking a stake in the local carrier.

AirAsia has successfully brought low-cost flights to intra- Malaysian travel despite initial forecasts of gloom by aviation analysts.