Budget carrier AirAsia said Wednesday its net profit had risen 42.8 percent for the second quarter of 2010, following an increase in passenger traffic and load factors.

Southeast Asia's largest budget airline by fleet size said its net profit for the April-to-June quarter rose to 198.9 million ringgit (62.89 million dollars) from 139.2 million ringgit for the same period in 2009.

air asia airasia aircraft "Based on the current forward booking trend, the underlying passenger demand in the third and fourth quarters for the Malaysian, Thai and Indonesian operations remains positive," the airline said in a report to the stock exchange.

"Load factors achieved in the month of July were in line with the prior year, while there have been significant improvements in yield," it added.

The airline said its passenger load factor rose to 77.0 percent from 75.0 percent a year earlier, with an 11.0 percent to 3.9 million passengers in the second quarter.

"Forward bookings are looking very good," AirAsia founder and group CEO Tony Fernandes said in a statement.

"The fourth quarter, of course, is traditionally our strongest quarter. To head into our strongest season on the back of a soaring first quarter and a record-breaking second quarter puts us in a fantastic position," he added.

- AFP