Fernandes (second left) and AirAsia Bhd chief executive officer Aireen Omar (left) signed the firm order of 100 A321neo aircraft for AirAsia yesterday with Airbus’s Brégier (third left) and Airbus chief operating officer for customers, John Leahy (fourth left).
FARNBOROUGH: AirAsia has signed a firm order with Airbus for the purchase of 100 A321neo aircraft, announced at the Farnborough Airshow yesterday by AirAsia Group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Airbus president and chief executive officer Fabrice Brégier.
This contract marks the first order placed by AirAsia for the largest model in the best-selling A320 Family. Seating up to 236 passengers in a single class layout, the A321neo will enable the airline to increase capacity while benefitting from the lowest operating costs in the single aisle category.
The announcement sees the total number of A320 Family ordered by AirAsia rise to 575, reaffirming the carrier’s position as the largest airline customer for the Airbus single aisle product line.
To date, over 170 A320s have already been delivered to the airline and are flying with its units in Malaysia, Thailand, India, Indonesia and the Philippines.
“AirAsia Group currently operates close to 1,000 flights per day to more than 120 destinations in 24 countries. We recorded a robust load factor of 85 per cent in the first quarter of 2016, up eight percentage points from the same period last year, and we are confident of maintaining this momentum going forward,” Fernandes said in a statement yesterday.
“The A321neo will help us to meet ongoing strong demand as well as further reduce our cost per available seat per kilometre across the group, which will translate to lower air fares for our guests.”
Fernandes noted the A321neo aircraft will be operated on AirAsia’s more popular routes, especially at airports with infrastructure constraints. It will allow the low cost carrier to bring higher passenger volumes with the same slots, therefore providing immediate benefits to the airports.
“These include, among others, more efficient operations, higher revenues from passenger service charges, and more airport retail purchases,” he added. “We will also continue to maintain our 25-minute turnaround with two- or three-step boarding where permitted to ensure on-time performance.”
“We are extremely pleased to receive this additional order from AirAsia,” said Fabrice Brégier, president and chief executive officer of Airbus. “This is another strong endorsement for the largest member of our single aisle family, which is now the clear market leader in the 200 plus seat category.
“We look forward to see A321neo flying in AirAsia colours and contributing to the airline’s continued success as one of the world’s leading low cost carriers.”
The A320 Family is the world’s best-selling single aisle product line with nearly 12,600 orders since launch and more than 7,100 aircraft delivered to some 320 operators worldwide.
The A320neo Family incorporates latest technologies including new generation engines and Sharklet wing tip devices, which together deliver more than 15 percent in fuel savings from day one and 20 percent by 2020 with further cabin innovations.
Meanwhile, AirAsia Bhd clarified that a dual listing is not an option the low-cost carrier is formally considering now and it is not pursuing any new joint venture in China.
In any event, such an exercise could not be undertaken without the proposal being deliberated by the board or without prior consideration of the various regulatory and commercial aspects on the matter. None of which has been undertaken thus far,” it said n a filing to Bursa Malaysia late Tuesday.
AirAsia also clarified news that it was mulling a joint venture in China.
It said from time to time, the low-cost carrier received proposals to establish airline joint-ventures in various jurisdictions.
However, currently AirAsia was not pursuing any new joint-venture proposals as it continued to focus on launching AirAsia Japan as well as strengthening its existing joint-venture airline operations within Asean and India.