Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia has announced that it plans to nearly double its Airbus A320 fleet to 200 as part of its effort to be the largest airline in Asia. It already has 100 A320s

on order and an option on 30 more.
At a cool $65m each, an additional 70 A320s would cost the airline $4.55bn, but AirAsia Ceo Tony Fernandes believes the airline has enough strength to raise the money from bank loans.
Speaking at the launch of FlyAsianXpress (FAX), a new low-cost long-haul service in which Fernandes has a 50% interest, he said that AirAsia X will now fly to destinations in China, India and Europe from this July.
Fernandes said AirAsia X would be looking to buy 20 aircraft, and was considering either Airbus A330-300s or Boeing 777-300s. AirAsia X is targeting 500,000 passengers in its first year of operation .