AirAsia to expand fleet, with eye on China-led regional demand

Kuala Lumpur

AIRASIA Bhd, South-east Asia's biggest budget carrier, plans to expand its fleet as it taps demand in a region projected to surpass the US as the world's biggest air-travel market in two decades, led by China.

The airline is looking to add five aircraft this year and as many as 10 more in 2017 "depending on demand", chairman Kamarudin Meranun said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. The company is also planning to increase the number of destinations in China from 18 and the frequency of its flights in the world's second-biggest economy, he said.