KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 13): AirAsia made a strong pitch to set up a budget airline in Sri Lanka to further grow the company's operations, The Sunday Times reported yesterday.

The Sunday Times, quoting a Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) meeting attendee, reported that an AirAsia team made the hour-long presentation to the CCEM on Wednesday.

"Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia has made a strong pitch to set up a budget carrier in Colombo with a 51% stake for the Sri Lanka Government," The Sunday Times reported.

It was reported that Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe headed the CCEM meeting. According to the report, the AirAsia team at the meeting included AirAsia's group head of network and regulatory affairs Dilhan Haradasa.

The attendee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "Every button was pushed. Everything will be privately funded. They will bring in five aircraft in the first year, and twenty five in five years. There will be two in Jaffna and two in Mattala."

"They said they will bring in tourists to meet the Government's five million target and they showed glowing statistics of other places they operate in. Each tourist they flew in now had a daily spend of US$160. They promised to raise it to US$200 in two years," he said.

At the time of writing, AirAsia had not issued a statement in response to The Sunday Times report. At Bursa Malaysia, AirAsia Bhd shares were traded at RM3.24 at 3:56pm while AirAsia X Bhd changed hands at 38.5 sen.