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.

Edd Razhe, the personal assistant to the AirAsia chairman, said when the pilot was informed of the emergency, he contacted the control tower requesting a reroute to LCCT.

"The ambulance was already at the airport to take the woman and her baby to Putrajaya Hospital," he said when contacted here, today.

Edd said a doctor only known as Ronald helped deliver the baby.

He added although it was an emergency, situation in the aircraft was normal and under control.

AirAsia Berhad chief operating officer Datuk Tony Fernandes, who is in Bangkok, Thailand, would be back in Kuala Lumpur to celebrate the arrival of the first born at Putrajaya Hospital.

AirAsia will provide a lifetime of free flights to both Liew and her son to all destinations.