The 185-seat A321neo is worth $125.7 million per plane at list prices, but AirAsia is expected to pay a fraction of that after placing orders for hundreds of jets and establishing itself as one of Airbus’s largest customers.
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Seating up to 240 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.
According to him, the new planes would be operated on most popular routes and at airports having infrastructure constraints.
“The A321neo will help us to meet ongoing strong demand as well as further reduce our cost per Available Seat Kilometre across the group, which will translate to lower air fares for our guests”, Fernandes said in the statement. Boeing also sealed final terms on the sale of 20 747-8 freighters to Russia’s Volga Dnepr, though the deal was previously announced and some of the aircraft have already been delivered. It will allow AirAsia to bring higher passenger volumes with the same slots, therefore providing immediate benefits to the airports.
Airbus confirmed an order from German airline Germania for 25 A320neos, worth $2.6 billion, confirming a Reuters report.
Airbus made considerable progress during the second day of the show, but rival Boeing managed to do some solid business as well.
Boeing added that another unnamed Chinese carrier has signed a commitment for 30 737 jets worth in excess of $3.0 billion. AirAsia rose 1.9 per cent in Kuala Lumpur trading.
In addition, Air Lease Corporation order Six 737MAX 8s worth $660 million while China’s Kunming Airlines signed an MOU for 10 737MAX 7’s worth $806 million. In the early afternoon, though, it produced the $7.73 billion deal with GoAir, easily the event’s biggest to date, and a four-plane accord for A321s from Iceland’s Wow. Buyers typically negotiate discounts.
Day three lies ahead.
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But several aerospace delegates and analysts expressed concern at what they see as a rush to supply airplanes to the Southeast Asia region and elsewhere, with uncertain implications for investors in manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing.
