Jakarta: Up to 1 billion passengers could have boarded AirAsia flights by 2025 as the group that pioneered budget air travel in Asia hopes to join the world's top airlines.
The no-frills group on Monday celebrated its latest milestone by having flown 300 million passengers.
"We carry 50-60 million passengers a year, so we aim to get to 500 million in two or three years, then to 1 billion in another 10 years," AirAsia group chief executive Tony Fernandes told the Bangkok Post.
The world's top airlines in terms of passengers are mostly in the US, with American Airlines at the top in 2014 statistics with 129.43 million, followed by Southwest Airlines (129.08 million), China Southern Airlines (100 million), United Airlines (90 million) and Delta Air Lines (87 million).
Mr Fernandes said he had never thought about how the group, now comprising eight airline companies, would grow its passenger numbers before people recently started posing him questions.
AirAsia group chief executive Tony Fernandes carries the 300 millionth passenger - Jodie Lazuardie, a 30-year-old art director based in Jakarta - in a celebration held Monday in Jakarta. (AirAsia photo)
The booming intra-Asean market, the group's main focus, will drive AirAsia to reach its next milestone quickly, he said.
The cumulative tally achieved by the group's airlines represented just over 9% of global airline passengers last year.
According to the International Air Transport Association, a record 3.3 billion passengers took to the skies last year, some 170 million more than in 2013, and the number this year is expected to top 3.5 billion.
AirAsia carried its 100-millionth passenger in October 2010 and celebrated 200 million in September 2013.
Mr Fernandes said he had hardly imagined that AirAsia would have grown to what it is today in passenger volume terms.
"When we started AirAsia 14 years ago, we merely had two aircraft in operation supported by 250 staff across five destinations in Malaysia," he said.
"Today, we have established operations in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and India with more than 17,000 staff.
"We paint the sky red every day, with 199 aircraft flying to more than 100 destinations in 22 countries."
The group has firm orders for 475 Airbus A320s for delivery until 2028 to support its aggressive growth plan on sectors with a maximum flight range of four hours.
Malaysia AirAsia contributes 55% to the group's passenger volume, Thai AirAsia 22% and Indonesia AirAsia 13.6%.
Tassapon Bijleveld, chief executive of Thai AirAsia, said its contribution to the group's passenger tally would move closer to Malaysia AirAsia over the next few years as its A320 fleet is increased from 45 to 60.
Thai AirAsia has so far carried 66 million passengers, with the number this year alone expected to reach 14 million, about half of Malaysia AirAsia's tally.
Mr Bijleveld said low-cost carriers had achieved record growth by capturing 40% of the region's market as more travellers embraced the budget concept.