The Malaysian airline has carried 14 percent more passengers during the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same period last year.

According to the airline’s preliminary operating statistics, the first three months of 2012 saw up to 8.226 million passengers travel with the carrier, up from 7.229 million during the same period 2011.

The Group’s jump was pushed by its Thai AirAsia operation’s 17 percent increase in passenger numbers and 12 percent more traffic on its Malaysia AirAsia services.

The carrier said the strong traffic was a “spillover” from its strong fourth quarter last year where it introduced new flights from Kuala Lumpur to Danang, Semarang and Palembang.

As well as the increase in passenger numbers, the Group’s capacity also jumped by 14 percent from the same period while its fleet size grew by five from 93 to 98.