Malaysia's AirAsia to fly to Indonesia in February: official

Malaysia's AirAsia to fly to Indonesia in February: official

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.