KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - MALAYSIAN long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X on Tuesday denied it was considering charging passengers according to how much they weigh.

An Australian executive with the airline had been quoted as telling a travel industry magazine that an initiative to charge larger passengers 'could help Aussies lose weight'.

But the carrier said the comment had merely been a joke.

'We never planned nor even considered charging passengers by weight,' chief executive Azran Osman-Rani said in a statement.

An affiliate of regional low-cost carrier AirAsia and Virgin Group, AirAsia X was launched in January 2007.

From its base in Kuala Lumpur it operates services to Australia's Gold Coast and Hangzhou in China.

It is set to begin flying to Perth from November but plans to fly to Britain are yet to be finalised. -- AFP