Safi Airways, Afghanistan's second largest airline, said on Tuesday it planned to buy one Airbus A320 and lease another this year, aiming to expand its fleet to up to nine aircraft by 2014.

"By 2014 we will have between 8 to 9 productive fleet," Claus Fischer, Safi's chief commercial officer, told reporters on the sidelines of a trade show in Dubai.

The airline expects to carry 270,000 passengers this year and close to half a million next year, from around 100,000 in 2009, Fischer said.

Safi, the country's second-biggest airline after national carrier Ariana Afghan Airlines, has been running scheduled operations for just over a year.

Safi Airways has signed agreements with airlines including Lufthansa, United Airlines and Dubai-based Emirates to use Safi Airways planes on some flights.

The airline, which said in March it had secured financing of $25 million, is finalising discussions to raise another $25 million this year.

Safi's present fleet includes two Boeing 737s, one 767, and an Airbus A340. The carrier will received an A320 in June under a leasing agreement and another one later in the year. – Reuters