AirAsia Orders 150 Excessive-Density Airbus A220s: Greatest-Ever Deal For Aircraft

Malaysian extremely low price provider AirAsia has simply positioned an order for the Airbus A220. Not solely does it characterize a significant departure from the provider’s historic method to fleet planning, but it surely’s additionally the biggest-ever single order for this plane.

AirAsia will add 160-seat Airbus A220-300 to fleet

AirAsia has positioned a agency order for 150 Airbus A220-300 plane, with deliveries anticipated to start in 2028. The acquisition settlement is the biggest single agency order positioned for the A220, and propels this system past the 1,000 agency order milestone, which is main.

It’s additionally value noting that AirAsia is the launch buyer for the excessive density model of the A220-300. The aircraft is in any other case licensed for as much as 149 seats, however by including an additional overwing exit, the capability may be elevated to 160 seats. Word that this excessive density A220-300 is totally different from the stretched A220-500 idea, which Airbus is significantly contemplating.

Because it’s described, the A220 will play a key function with AirAsia’s community throughout ASEAN and into Central Asia, releasing up bigger plane to fly longer routes. Right here’s how AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes describes this order:

“We have now constructed AirAsia by making daring selections on the proper second, not the simplest second. This order displays our long-term self-discipline and the dimensions of our ambitions. The A220 unlocks new markets and routes and brings us nearer to constructing the world’s first true low-cost community provider. Our partnership with Airbus spans greater than 20 years and has been central to the whole lot we now have achieved. At present is one other milestone in that journey, and there are various extra to come back.” 

How the Airbus A220 will match into AirAsia’s fleet

The fleet of AirAsia’s Malaysia subsidiary in any other case consists primarily of Airbus A320-family plane, together with each the basic (ceo) and subsequent era (neo) variations. For instance, the airline has over 400 A321 plane on order, between the A321neo, A321LR, and A321XLR. At the very least initially, these planes are all going to be configured with 236 folks, in a one-cabin configuration.

Presumably these A220s will over time substitute a few of the basic A320s, which have 180 seats. In order that fleet substitute does characterize a capability downgrade on a per-aircraft foundation, although I think about the full variety of frames might be larger. You can also’t argue with the working prices of the A220, particularly with so many seats.

So whereas many airways hesitate to introduce a brand new sort of plane after they profit from fleet commonality, it’s clear that AirAsia has the flexibility to scale a number of fleets, in a method the place they’ll all be operated effectively.

Given AirAsia’s dimension and what buyer of Airbus it has been, I think about the airline bought an ideal deal on these plane. It’s comprehensible that for its long run fleet progress, the airline additionally desires one thing smaller than the 236-seat A321neos. When you don’t want the vary of the A320neo, there’s plenty of benefit to the A220-300, given the decrease price per body, decrease working prices, and so on.

That is additionally an enormous win for Airbus, as a result of up till now, the A220 hasn’t been significantly widespread with extremely low price carriers (with some exceptions, like Breeze, which is extra of a “worth” airline than an extremely low price one).

Backside line

AirAsia has introduced a agency order for 150 Airbus A220-300s, with deliveries anticipated as of 2028. AirAsia would be the launch buyer for the excessive density model of the A220-300, which might have as much as 160 seats (because of an additional emergency exit). Congrats to AirAsia and Airbus, it is a good improvement all-around.

What do you make of AirAsia’s A220 order?