Shareholders approve buyout of AirAsia by long-haul associate

AirAsia X shareholders approved the proposed acquisition of Malaysian investment firm Capital A's equity interest in AirAsia units for 6.8 billion Malaysian ringgit ($1.6 billion) on Wednesday, after Capital A shareholders gave the nod on Monday to the deal, company statements said. The merger of AirAsia is intended to create efficiencies and aid a significant expansion of routes and global network reach, AirAsia executives have said. AirAsia operates short-haul routes around Asia with single-aisle aircraft while AirAsia X flies wide-body planes on longer routes including to Australia and Saudi Arabia.