AirAsia has signed an agreement for a firm order of 12 additional Airbus A330neo aircraft, (taking the total from 66 to 78 A330neos on order) and 30 state-of-the-art A321XLR aircraft, to join AirAsia’s future long-haul fleet at the end of August in Kuala Lumpur. The two orders represents a new direction for the airline to allow more frequency to slot-restricted airports and thin routes.
The introduction of the A321XLR provides AirAsia X with greater flexibility to better manage capacity on key routes as well as respond to seasonal demand. The A321XLR also gives AirAsia X an advantage when it comes to exploring opportunities to operate non-stop flights between Southeast Asia and secondary cities in countries like Australia, China and Japan.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Also present was AirAsia Group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.
The A330neo is Airbus’s popular model, with the older A330 in use by multiple airlines around the world, including AirAsia X. The new neo model (which stands for New Engine Option), adds new wingtip design called sharklets, new engine from Rolls-Royce’s Trent 1000 and General Electric’s GEnx-1B, which AirAsia will select the Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, and a whole slew of interior updates and upgrades.
Meanwhile the A321XLR is Airbus’s latest narrowbody model, designed for high capacity but thin routes. With seating up to 240 passengers, the new plane will help the company open new routes, or add more frequency to current routes in the AirAsia X routing.
The first two A330neo for the AirAsia Group is now in service with Thai AirAsia X. The first A321XLR is currently in the production line of Airbus, ready for delivery by end of 2019 or early 2020.
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