SAEAGA to acquire plane

SAEAGA to acquire plane

LANGKAWI, Malaysia (AFP): Malaysian-based SAEAGA Airlines Sdn.
Bhd. said yesterday it planned to buy 10 medium-sized aircraft
from Boeing Co. or Airbus to expand to international routes.

"We are going to see Boeing and Airbus for expansion of
business," Malaysian timber tycoon, Ting Pek Khiing, chairman of
SAEAGA, a unit of listed Ekran Bhd., told reporters.

He declined to detail the cost of the planned fleet expansion,
but said it was aimed at better serving the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations area grouping Malaysia with Brunei, ,
Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Ting, who is also chairman of Ekran Bhd., is in this northern
island resort to attend an international dialog to be opened by
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad later yesterday.

"We are going to expand to international routes from the
domestic routes," said Ting.

SAEAGA is the domestic carrier based in Malaysia's eastern
state of Sabah which was two months ago designated by the
government as a national carrier within the East Asian Growth
Area (EAGA).