AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes said Tuesday that the crash of a Thai budget carrier in Phuket would not affect the business of Southeast Asia's largest low-cost airline.

Fernandes said that while the crash which left 89 of the 130 passengers and crew dead was a "terrible incident", it would have no impact on AirAsia.

"No effect at all. Business is as usual," he told reporters. "We are a very safe airline. It is incorrect to pigeonhole all budget airlines. We have one of the lowest insurance rates," he added.

Thai authorities probing the crash of the MD-82 aircraft operated by Thai airline One-Two-Go are investigating whether human error was to blame, with officials saying the pilot was warned of dangerous wind conditions.

Shares in AirAsia slumped 2.6 percent Monday as analysts said travellers were likely to shun flying due to safety concerns, particularly after a similar crash in Indonesia involving budget airline Adam Air in January.

AirAsia stocks closed unchanged at 1.85 ringgit (53 US cents) on the Malaysian bourse Tuesday.

Tom Ballantyne, from the industry publication Orient Aviation, told AFP after the crash that a distinction should be made between smaller airlines and major budget operators like AirAsia who have new aircraft and well-trained pilots.

"There's not much of a concern about safety with these (major) carriers because they're linked to the big carriers or part-owned by them," he said.

Founded by Malaysian aviation entrepreneur Fernandes six years ago, Malaysia-based AirAsia has operations in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

It plans to launch a new low-cost airline in Vietnam and recently agreed to take a 20 percent stake in budget long-haul carrier AirAsia X which counts Fernandes and British billionaire Richard Branson among its investors.