No-frills carrier AirAsia today launched the world's first SMS ticket reservation service with hopes of expanding its reach to 10 million mobile phone users.

Chairperson Pahamin Rajab said the move followed its success with its Internet ticketing service, which recorded over RM80 million in sales since May last year.

He said AirAsia had invested RM3 million to develop the short message service (SMS) booking system, jointly with top mobile phone operator Maxis and Dutch-based technology firm Getronics.