AirAsia orders 100 A321neo aircraft

AirAsia and Airbus signed (12-Jul-2016) a firm order for the purchase of 100 A321neo aircraft, marking the airline's first A321 order. AirAsia has now ordered a total of 575 A320-family aircraft and is the largest airline customer for Airbus narrowbodies. More than 170 A320s have been delivered to AirAsia airlines. AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said, "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." Mr Fernandes added: "The A321neo will be operated on our most popular routes and especially at airports with infrastructure constraints. It will allow us to bring higher passenger volumes with the same slots, therefore providing immediate benefits to the airports. These include, among others, more efficient operations, higher revenues from passenger service charges, and more airport retail purchases. We will also continue to maintain our 25-minute turnaround with two- or three-step boarding where permitted to ensure on-time performance." [more - original PR]