AirAsia units plan US$300m bond issues

Singapore

AIRASIA Bhd, Asia's biggest budget airline, plans to raise funds at loss-making associates by issuing up to US$300 million in bonds and may sell planes to help cut group debt, chief executive Tony Fernandes said in a letter to investors.

Mr Fernandes, who has steered AirAsia into a billion-dollar business from a two-plane operation in 2002, said that the group plans to issue as much as US$150 million in convertible bonds at each of its Philippine and Indonesian associates.

It may also sell and lease back up to 20 aircraft in the group's fleet this year, he said in the letter, of which Reuters o…