KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) -- British billionaire Richard Branson of Virgin Group is to take a 20 percent stake in Malaysia's AirAsia long-haul budget carrier to help get it off the ground, a report said Tuesday.

AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes declined comment on the report even as the company said it would be making a major announcement on Friday.
""I am not saying anything,"" Fernandes told AFP.
In a separate statement, the company said long-haul operator ""AirAsia X will be making a major announcement involving a strategic global investor. We promise you it will be a memorable one.""
Star newspaper cited an industry source as saying that the “selling of the 20 percent stake is the first round of funding required by the airline to kick-start operations and partly pay for the 15 aircraft that have been ordered.""
Branson, via the Virgin Group, would take a 20 percent stake in Fly Asian Xpress Sdn Bhd (FAX), the long-haul operator.
Fernandes, who holds 50 percent of FAX, and his deputy Kamarudin Meranum with 30 percent, are expected to sell some of their shares to Branson, the founder of Virgin Group.
FAX has 15 widebody A330-300 airliners on order from Airbus, the European manufacturer.
It is scheduled to begin long-haul flights to China and Australia September 8, using three leased planes, from the low-cost carrier terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), company executives have said.
At its launch in January, the carrier promised budget flights to Britain beginning in July.
Fernandes launched AirAsia as a pioneering regional budget carrier in December, 2001, with just two aircraft. It now serves domestic and international routes throughout the region