AirAsia Group will sell a portfolio of 25 planes to US private investment firm Castlelake LP for US$768m, it said Monday. Castlelake will also purchase 4 new aircraft that will be delivered to AirAsia in 2019, the airline said. The 29 planes - Airbus’ A320-200ceo and A320neo - will be leased back to AirAsia. Reuters reported earlier this month that Castlelake agreed to buy about 30 narrowbody aircraft from AirAsia. The deal underscores the strong appetite of funds to invest in the aircraft leasing sector, which is seeing rising demand on the back of an increase in LCCs and passenger traffic. For AirAsia, the deal marks another move to monetise its assets as the airline seeks to transform itself into an asset-light, digitally focused firm. <br/>
unaligned
The govt Monday said the aircraft accident investigation wing AAIB is pursuing with Airbus and Pratt & Whitney the incident of IndiGo plane emitting smoke mid-air with amid allegations that the probe is going slow. IndiGo’s A320 neo plane made an emergency landing Dec 10 in Kolkata after smoke filled the plane’s cabin. The pilots issued a Mayday call and the passengers were evacuated using emergency chutes. The IndiGo incident was the first instance globally of smoke detected from a P&W engine a senior DGCA official said last week. “There is no question of any probe being hushed up. On the contrary, the AAIB is pursuing the matter with Airbus and P&W for assessing the reasons and recommending remedial measures,” civil aviation secretary RN Choubey said. <br/>
Norwegian Air announced a US$230m cost savings program Monday along with steps including the refinancing of 1 Boeing 787 Dreamliner that the airline said would generate more than $30m in liquidity. It also said it was making several changes to its route portfolio as well as to its capacity. "Combined these measures should improve the financial performance from the start of 2019," it said. The fast-growing carrier has been under pressure over the past 18 months to control costs and shore up its balance sheet as it looks to crack the transatlantic market by undercutting established rivals. It said its new cost-saving program was expected to generate savings of at least $229m in 2019. The airline said it would provide an update on the program April 25 with its Q1 results. <br/>