No-frills carrier AirAsia on today hit out at rival Malaysia Airline over its plans to launch a budget carrier with other regional airlines and called for a chance to work together to turn the country into a regional aviation hub.

AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes said it was disappointing that the flag carrier was exploring a joint venture with other regional airlines to set up a low-cost carrier but had refused to consider cooperating with AirAsia.

"We are two Malaysian companies, yet we have not sat down and discussed (working together). In three years, we never had one meeting with (Malaysia Airline) senior management despite many attempts by AirAsia to do so," he told national Bernama news agency.

"Really we should be working together on how we can make Malaysia a much better hub than Singapore, for instance."

Managing director Ahmad Fuaad Dahlan said yesterday that Malaysia Airlines can launch a low-cost carrier in six months if the situation merits but it would not rush into the budget sector as its current operation was still competitive.

He stressed that any move to enter the budget sector would be based purely on business viability and not aimed at destroying the ambitious and successful AirAsia, regarded as Southeast Asia's version of European budget airline Ryanair.

Win-win situation

But Fernandes said AirAsia could complement the national carrier by servicing routes that it didn't cover, which would benefit the country's tourism industry. Just like RyanAir and Aer Lingus in Ireland, he said they could "work together for a win-win situation for Malaysia."

He said the domestic market may not be big enough for another low-fare carrier and Malaysia Airlines should instead focus its resources on expanding its global network and increasing routes to India and China.

Despite competing against major regional airlines, Fernandes said the three-year-old AirAsia was profitable because it was the "lowest cost airline in the world."

He said AirAsia would launch flights to Bandung, Medan, Surabaya and Bali in Indonesia next month. It aims to double the number of passenger it carries to four million this year and 7.5 million next year.

On the company's plans to list on the stock exchange, Fernandes said an announcement would be made soon but did not elaborate.

AirAsia, which pioneered no-frills travel in the region, began by servicing just the Malaysian market in 2001 and has rapidly expanded with routes to Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei, Singapore and Macau.