AirAsia is planning to expand its route network in India, particularly in a market that no other airline is serving directly.

Its regional head of commercial, Kathleen Tan, said destinations on the budget carrier's network included Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai.

KUALA LUMPUR: Southeast Asia’s biggest budget carrier AirAsia plans to list on the Thai and Indonesian stock exchanges in a bid to tap the region’s capital markets despite a turbulent year for airlines.

AirAsia has the most extensive network in Southeast Asia, with more than 70 destinations across 20 countries — and has grown dramatically from just two planes to its current fleet of 85 in just seven years.

Now the company, currently listed only in Malaysia, wants to list itself and its Thai affiliate in Thailand.

ALIZA of Sri Hartamas  wonders what happened to the AirAsia flight booking  she made online.

Believing it is cheaper to make a flight booking way in advance before her departure date, she booked her ticket with AirAsia one month early.

“I made my online booking on Oct 30 and paid via its CIMBclicks portal for a return flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Baru for the dates Nov 27 to 29.

However, unable to trace my itinerary despite receiving a confirmed deduction from the bank, I contacted AirAsia immediately,” she says.

A premature baby boy was delivered on board an AirAsia flight last night, 30 minutes after the aircraft left Bayan Lepas Airport in Penang.

The flight AK5606 was on its way to Kuching but had to reroute to the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang when a pregnant passenger told crew members she was in labour pains.

Liew Siaw Hsia, 31, gave birth through the normal delivery to a premature but healthy boy, who became the first born in an AirAsia aircraft.

AIRASIA Bhd is increasing the frequency of flights from LCCT to Langkawi, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching to cater to the higher demand during the coming year-end holiday and festive seasons.

Ticket sales for the extra flights open today, with the flights taking place from Nov 16 to Jan 6, 2010, Air Asia said in a statement.

The budget airline is also increasing flight frequencies to Johor Baru and Penang on a regular basis from Nov 19.

LAW wonders why AirAsia refused to change the flight and accommodation booking she made for a trip to Hong Kong to a later date.

She booked her tickets through the Go Travel package and was supposed to fly on July 26 and return on July 31.

With the rising cases of H1N1 infections, she was not confident the virus would be eradicated within a month, and so called AirAsia on June 24 to postpone her booking.

LAW said AirAsia staff told her that changing the date was impossible since the government had not given any instruction to stop flights.

CHARITY, they say, begins at home. This, apparently does not apply to Malaysia's low budget carrier AirAsia.

AIRASIA Bhd group chairman Datuk Aziz Bakar has admitted that the airline has been holding back the RM65 million payment due to Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB).

"The money is part of the payment we are holding back, until we resolve this issue," he said, according to a Bernama report.

The issue is the RM51 charged for international travellers - which AirAsia deems unfair and wants to be  reduced to RM10.

WHO can blame anyone, especially the local sports fraternity, for being riled?

There is a thick air of dejection, and even a sense of betrayal, pervading now that it has been revealed that a home-grown brand that is AirAsia, which owes Malaysians a great deal for supporting the cheap, no-frills airline especially during its infancy, is likely to spend a huge sum of money

LOW-COST carrier AirAsia will be launching its new route between Kuala Lumpur and Colombo, Sri Lanka this
August.

The maiden flight will be on Aug 15, following which there will be daily direct flights between the two capital cities.

Booking for promotional seats ends on Sunday for travel between Aug 15, 2009 and April 30, 2010. - Bernama