Wirraway
17th Oct 2004, 17:28
Mon "Jakarta Post"
AirAsia buys Indonesian airline: Report
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia's budget carrier AirAsia has acquired a private airline in Indonesia and will team up with a local partner to launch new flights to tap into Southeast Asia's most populous nation, a report said on Sunday.
AirAsia bought PT AWAir Internasional for a token two dollars, business weekly The Edge quoted sources as saying.
It plans to tie-up with an unidentified partner to launch a no-frills airline in a set-up similar to that of Thai AirAsia, where Thai media and telecommunications group Shin Corp. holds acontrolling 51 percent stake, the sources said.
AirAsia officials were not available for comment but the company's executive director Kamarudin Meranum last week told the New Straits Times daily that the airline was waiting for the Indonesian government to issue a license to allow it to set up a budget airline.
The Edge said AWAir began operations in June 2000 but suspended them two years later because of fierce competition from some 50 airlines now servicing domestic routes following the deregulation of the aviation sector.
It was unclear if AWAir has the rights to fly international routes but its start-up mirrored AirAsia's beginnings in Malaysia, when private firm Tune Air took over all of AirAsia's 40 million ringgit (US$10.5 million) in debts and two aircraft for a token one ringgit in 2001.
After revamping the airline into a low-cost model, AirAsia began making profits in seven months and now flies to 30 destinations in Malaysia and the region, including Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Macau. It hopes to fly to China by the year-end.
The carrier last week said it expected to raise some 800 million ringgit in next month's initial public offering, billed as Malaysia's largest listing this year, to fund the acquisition of 80 new aircraft.
For its financial year to June 2005, AirAsia expects net profit to surge threefold to 160 million ringgit on a turnover of 700 million ringgit, The Edge said. (**)
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AirAsia buys Indonesian airline: Report
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia's budget carrier AirAsia has acquired a private airline in Indonesia and will team up with a local partner to launch new flights to tap into Southeast Asia's most populous nation, a report said on Sunday.
AirAsia bought PT AWAir Internasional for a token two dollars, business weekly The Edge quoted sources as saying.
It plans to tie-up with an unidentified partner to launch a no-frills airline in a set-up similar to that of Thai AirAsia, where Thai media and telecommunications group Shin Corp. holds acontrolling 51 percent stake, the sources said.
AirAsia officials were not available for comment but the company's executive director Kamarudin Meranum last week told the New Straits Times daily that the airline was waiting for the Indonesian government to issue a license to allow it to set up a budget airline.
The Edge said AWAir began operations in June 2000 but suspended them two years later because of fierce competition from some 50 airlines now servicing domestic routes following the deregulation of the aviation sector.
It was unclear if AWAir has the rights to fly international routes but its start-up mirrored AirAsia's beginnings in Malaysia, when private firm Tune Air took over all of AirAsia's 40 million ringgit (US$10.5 million) in debts and two aircraft for a token one ringgit in 2001.
After revamping the airline into a low-cost model, AirAsia began making profits in seven months and now flies to 30 destinations in Malaysia and the region, including Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Macau. It hopes to fly to China by the year-end.
The carrier last week said it expected to raise some 800 million ringgit in next month's initial public offering, billed as Malaysia's largest listing this year, to fund the acquisition of 80 new aircraft.
For its financial year to June 2005, AirAsia expects net profit to surge threefold to 160 million ringgit on a turnover of 700 million ringgit, The Edge said. (**)
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