Air Asia is opening the chequebook again and has placed an order for an additional 100 Airbus A320 series aircraft to aid its expansion.
The order is split in two with 36 A320 CEO (Current Engine Option) and 64 A320 NEO (New Engine Option).
The order has been in discussion since Farnbourgh 2012, and has taken time to come to fruition.
This will swell the AirAsia single isle fleet again, with a project fleet when all aircraft are delivered of 264 A320NEO and 211 A320CEO – at total of 475 aircraft.
Air Asia currently operates over 100 A320’s serving 70 destinations in over 20 countries, whilst Air Asia X operates a mix of A330’s and A340’s.
Its a great order and I wish the best to Air Asia and Airbus.
As a passenger, I love that new plane feel. However, I am concerned that in this age of ever larger orders, is a bubble being created? How many of these planes will never be delivered due to cancellation, deferment, or morphed into other products. What about the used market?
Obviously, they expect to retire even the new airplanes rather quickly. If they wanted a stable fleet, easily upgraded as necessary, they would have started migrating to Boeing. Why not? A principal reason may be that Boeing cannot produce airframes fast enough for this high-turnover airline. Airbus may respond to initial orders a tiny bit faster, but their aircraft have a much shorter, fixed lifespan and precious little later life support. OTOH, Boeing will happily provide the means to keep even their ‘stale’ fleets flying until their design clocks run out.
Yes, the world markets for medium and large airframes have room for two major manufacturers. As history has demonstrated, Airbus is in the market to sell airplanes with a shorter, even questionable lifespan. Boeing sells airplanes designed to be upgraded and that will fly safely, well beyond their intended lifespan. If nothing else, the Boeings seem to retain far more resale value. Perhaps the Asian carriers don’t care. For most Western carriers, the value of their fleet remains critically important. What think you?