AirAsia has reaffirmed its position as the largest airline customer for the Airbus A320 single aisle family of aircraft.
A deal for 14 A320ceo aircraft valued at $1.4 billion confirmed at the Paris Air Show brings the number of Airbus aircraft ordered by the Malaysian budget carrier up to 592.
A total of 171 A320ceos and eight A320neos have already been delivered to the airline and are flying in Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
The AirAsia order was part of almost $40 billion in new business signed by the European manufacturer at the show.
The company won commitments for a total of 326 aircraft, including firm orders for 144 worth $18.5 billion and memorandums of understanding for 182 aircraft worth $21.2 billion.
The A320 range of sales and commitments were “robust”, with business accounting for 306 aircraft worth $33.8 billion.
Airbus also won firm orders for 20 widebody aircraft worth $5.9 billion.
John Leahy, chief operating officer customers, said: “Our commercial success this week at Paris extends our already diversified order backlog to a new industry record of over 6,800 aircraft, with 326 orders worth $40 billion.”
He added: “We are pleased to announce our latest agreement from AirAsia.
“We are proud that the A320 family has played an important role in the success of AirAsia, providing the efficiency and reliability needed for the airline to keep its costs as low as possible.”
AirAsia Group chief executive, Tony Fernandes, said: “Demand is very strong in AirAsia’s traditional countries, but now we have Indonesia, Philippines and India doing extremely well.
“The robust demand has led us to expand our fleet, and Airbus has been a great partner in finding us slots.
“We still need to find more aircraft to expand our regional reach and are actively sourcing from the leasing market. The competitive environment is at its best, coupled with a stable oil price. With the lowest cost in the world, AirAsia is back on aggressive growth.”