AirAsia Bhd expects more than 10 per cent growth in passengers this year as it continues to expand network and fleet.

The budget carrier will acquire seven more aircraft and add the same number of international destinations from Kuala Lumpur during the year, Chief Executive Officer Aireen Omar told Bernama.

"In line with our earlier growth, we are looking for at least a 10 per cent increase in passenger volume in 2017.

"We are going to connect more places with Kuala Lumpur. Some announcements will be made soon," Aireen said, without disclosing the planned routes.

However, she did state that the new routes would be within the ASEAN region and India.

An official from India's Odisha state recently disclosed that AirAsia would soon launch flights between Bhubaneswar and Kuala Lumpur.

AirAsia currently serves eight Indian routes, namely to Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Kochi, Kolkata, Trichy and Visakhapatnam, from its Kuala Lumpur hub.

Its affiliate, Thai AirAsia flies to four Indian cities from Bangkok.

Aireen said AirAsia is seeking the Indian government's approval to add more destinations and increase frequencies on existing routes.

New Delhi is keen to grow connectivity with ASEAN as part of its "Act East" policy of building greater business and political links with the region. -- Bernama