In a first in Australia, AirAsia is giving away in a competition a flight from Sydney to Malaysia for one winner and 302 of his or her closest friends.

The Malaysian budget carrier is running the competition via Facebook , giving the winner the chance to fill an Airbus A330 from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur with friends from the social networking site.

The prize, which is valued at nearly A$270,000, also includes three nights accommodation at Accor Hotels.

The winner will also have to choose which 11 friends will join them in the Premium Flat Beds.

AirAsia began flying from Sydney to KL last week.

The winner of the prize will be drawn on June 12 and must be available to take the flight between Nov 2 to 5.

“We believe this competition to win a flight sets us apart from what the competition has ever done in Australia,” AirAsia X chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani was quoted as saying by the Herald Sun newspaper.

“This is our way of saying, ‘Cheers Australia, the party is on us’.”

Entry to the competition is via the ‘Friendsy’ application on Facebook, which features the Pick A Seat diagram from the AirAsia website.

This lets entrants fill the plane’s seats with their Facebook friends either manually or via an auto fill button.

To enter go to facebook.com/AirAsiaAustralia .

- Bernama