The company, an affiliate of Ascend Airways UK, will be based at KLIA Terminal 1. It will focus on providing aircraft to airlines that require additional capacity during peak demand periods, thus helping local and regional airlines meet their operational needs, a company representative told Bernama.

“We can operate our aircraft anywhere based on our clients’ operational needs, for example in Bangladesh, India or China,” the source said.

The company representative said Ascend Airways Malaysia is not a commercial airline.

The company hopes to provide flexible, on-demand solutions at peak periods for airlines such as Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia or Batik Air Malaysia to scale their operations efficiently, without long-term commitments.

The airline has confirmed that it will operate Boeing narrowbody aircraft, but will not announce the fleet size until it receives its air operators certificate from the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia. So far, the airline has obtained a conditional air service permit from the Malaysian Aviation Commission which expires on Nov 14.

Ascend Airways announced in January that it planned to begin Malaysian operations with a Boeing 737 Classic aircraft and subsequently expand its fleet to include Boeing 737-800NG.

Ascend Airways Malaysia is an affiliate of the Ireland-based Avia Solutions Group, which provided 221 aircraft worldwide to airlines on customised wet lease and air charter basis.