AirAsia's Fernandes undecided on plane order, no plans to attend Farnborough

AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said the group had not yet taken a decision on which aircraft manufacturer to pick for new plane orders and that he was not planning to go to this week's air show in Farnborough, England. Two sources said this week Fernandes might attend the air show where AirAsia and Airbus will attempt to end a rough patch in their relations and agree all or part of a package of wide-body and narrow-body plane orders. "We haven't made any decision. We definitely need more planes," Fernandes said Tuesday, when asked if any decision had been taken on AirAsia's plane orders. Asked whether he would travel to Farnborough, the Malaysian entrepreneur said: "No. I'm not planning to go anywhere right now." Industry sources have said AirAsia is discussing the possible purchase of another 100 Airbus A321neo jets as the airline and Airbus go down to the wire in parallel negotiations for an expanded order for larger A330neo jets. AirAsia has been a steadfast Airbus narrow-body and wide-body customer, but recently the company has talked to Boeing about buying its 787 jet as an alternative to the A330neo, a person familiar with the discussions said. Delegates say Airbus needs a marketing lift for its A330neo and would relish bringing Fernandes to the widely publicized Farnborough Airshow to reconfirm and expand his order.<br/>