KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) ? Southeast Asia's largest budget carrier AirAsia said Friday it was close to a landmark deal that will see it partner Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) to launch a new low-cost airline.
"We are almost there," a senior AirAsia official told AFP.
The venture would be the carrier's first tie-up outside Southeast Asia, coming as it looks to expand and following its record order of 300 A320neo aircraft from Airbus last month.
"We are constantly looking for joint-ventures," the official said, adding that the firm had struck the deal to meet consumer demand in Asia, where growth in air travel is surging.
He said the two firms hoped to begin making money in the second year of operation.
An announcement on the airline, called AirAsia Japan, will be made next week, The Star newspaper reported Friday. It said the new airline will initially serve domestic markets and eventually the region.
The official said there was "strong interest" from ANA towards the joint-venture, adding that "we are very comfortable with them."
"We have been negotiating "for quite some time," he said, adding that issues related to the size of each side's stake were being finalised.
AirAsia has other similar joint-ventures in Southeast Asia -- in Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand -- while its long-haul airline AirAsia X flies to Tokyo's Haneda airport.
The official said the tie-up had nothing to do with ANA's budget airline.
"We have nothing to do with Peach," he said.
ANA, Japan's largest carrier, in February set up the country's first budget carrier under the name "Peach Aviation" with Hong Kong and Japanese investment funds.
Anticipating booming Asian travel demand, the company was set up to be Japan's main low-cost carrier operating both international and domestic routes.
It aims to begin domestic services out of Kansai International Airport in the Japanese city of Osaka in March 2012.
Service between Kansai and Incheon airport in Seoul will commence no later than May 2012, the airline said.
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