Low-cost carrier AirAsia has signed an agreement with Galileo, a web-based service provider, to enable passengers worldwide to book AirAsia tickets via travel agents.

"We expect to increase passenger volume between 10 to 15 percent in 2006 through this new partnership with Galileo," Kamarudin Meranum, AirAsia executive director told AFP .

AirAsia expects to fly 10 million passengers in 2006. Previously, intending passengers could only book their tickets via its Internet system.

Galileo International is a global distribution system and is a unit of US-based Cendant Travel Distribution Services, providing travel agencies with access to services, schedules and pricing information

Kamarudin said that on this new sales platform, AirAsia was expected to see more passenger traffic from Australia, Indonesia and Europe.

"There are travellers who want to book their tickets through a travel agent and there are also parts of Asia with low Internet penetration. Now, we are providing them with the facility to book through a travel agent," he said.

Kathlen Tan, AirAsia's executive vice-president for commercial affairs, said the partnership with Galileo would allow AirAsia to serve an even larger market that has an appetite for low fares.

"Likewise, we also recognize that there is an integral part of the market that is served by travel agents," she said.

100 new Airbus planes

The Malaysia-based airline, which dominates the crowded Southeast Asian low-cost sector, wants to ride the travel boom not only in its home region of half-a-billion people, but also in the emerging China and India markets.

It has ordered 100 brand-new Airbus A320 planes. Two aircraft have arrived and it is expected that one A320 aircraft will now arrive every month.

This is expected to make AirAsia the largest budget carrier in Asia by 2011 when they are all in service.

AirAsia was launched in December 2001 with just two aircraft and has since become a significant regional player, with its business model increasingly imitated by national carriers and a host of new low-cost entrants.

The airline covers most major cities in Southeast Asia.