AirAsia may consider dividend after sale of plane-leasing unit

AirAsia is likely to use most of the proceeds from a proposed sale of its aircraft-leasing arm to pay a dividend, its CE said. The airline expects to get binding bids for the unit by March and close the deal by summer, Group CE Tony Fernandes said. The board of the carrier will take the final call on whether to use the proceeds to pare debt or pay a dividend, he said. “Our gearing is very low anyway but I always like to have more cash than less cash,” Fernandes said. “But it’s really up to the board to finally decide what to do with that.” The divestment of Asia Aviation Capital may help bolster the financials of the carrier that has ordered hundreds of jets from Airbus and had a net debt of US$2b at the end of September. <br/>