AirAsia Philippines’ parent firm, AirAsia Group Berhad, has signed an amendment agreement with Airbus S.A.S to convert its remaining A320 aircraft orders to the more fuel-efficient aircraft, A321neo.
With the conversion of its remaining 13 A320 undelivered aircraft to the A321neo, AirAsia now has a total order of 362 A321neo aircraft that will be allocated based on demand among its airlines within the group, with deliveries up until 2035, as agreed between AirAsia and Airbus.
AirAsia received its first A321neo in November 2019 and currently has a total of four A321neo in service.
At present, the group has a total fleet size of 211 aircraft comprising 169 A320, 38 A320neo and four A321neo aircraft.
“Our airline network and fleet strategy has been thoroughly reviewed to ensure flying on the most popular and profitable routes as we prepare for travel resumption across our network. Our business model is robust, and there is a lot of pent-up demand. We are confident that our airlines will be able to rebound and recover strongly as soon as travel restrictions are lifted,” said Bo Lingam, AirAsia Group president.
“The A321neo is a leader in its category and it will enable AirAsia to serve the demand across our network with significant operational efficiencies, with more than 10 percent fuel savings. The A321neo also includes an additional 50 seats and extra cargo space, and will allow us to further reduce our cost per Available Seat Kilometreacross the group, which will be passed on as lower air fares for our guests,” he added. – Myla Iglesias
