Malaysia’s AirAsia has denied it is weighing up a bid for struggling Japanese carrier Skymark Airlines and says it is still pressing ahead with its own joint venture budget airline in the country.
Nikkei business daily had reported that AirAsia was interested in the airline which sent Skymark shares up 28%, valueing the company at $205 million.
It was the biggest intraday gain for the airline since 2008.
Skymark recently announced a net loss of $57 million for the second quarter.
Skymark issued a statement saying it has not been in contact with AirAsia and the Malaysian budget carrier’s CEO Tony Fernandes backed that up on Twitter.
“Never seen such rubbish, AirAsia has no interest in Skymark in Japan,” he tweeted.
AirAsia then issued a statement saying: “We dismiss the speculation as just another industry rumour.”
AirAsia already has plans to enter the Japanese budget airline market in partnership with Japanese online retailer, Rakuten Inc.
Last month Skymark said its business would be in jeopardy if it had to pay compensation to aircraft manufacturer Airbus for cancelling an order for six A380 superjumbos.
Skymark failed to secure adequate financing for the deal and said Airbus was seeking “an extraordinary amount of compensation.”
Analysts say Skymark is an attractive proposition as it controls 36 slots at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.
“For a potential Japanese bidder of Skymark, getting the Haneda slots is a huge story, even if there is another round of slot expansion next decade,” said Will Horton of CAPA Centre for Aviation.
