Lion Air to set up budget carrier in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Indonesia’s Lion Air said Tuesday it will set up a low-cost airline in Malaysia that will take off in May 2013 as part of an aggressive regional expansion.

The move will see Lion Air, which controls nearly half the air travel market in Indonesia, playing catch-up to the region’s top budget carrier AirAsia. It follows AirAsia’s recent acquisition of Batavia Air in a bid to tap Indonesia’s 230 million population.