Malaysia's AirAsia Group reaches deal with Airbus to restructure plane orders

Malaysia's AirAsia Group has reached a deal with Airbus to restructure an order for 362 narrowbody planes including switching 13 A320neos to the larger A321neo model, the airline said on Wednesday. Deliveries of the 362 A321neos are now planned through 2035, the airline said, without providing details of previous plans. Reuters last month reported Airbus had agreed to cut prices or reschedule delivery to salvage a contract worth tens of billions of dollars with its largest Asian customer, according to industry sources. AirAsia received its first A321neo in November 2019 and currently has four of the planes in service after halting deliveries during the pandemic, which has led to a plunge in travel across Southeast Asia. Airbus sold six A321neos that had been built for AirAsia last year, according to industry sources. Airbus CCO Christian Scherer said that the deal with AirAsia announced on Wednesday was an example of how the planemaker had worked with customers to find solutions to adapt to the impact of the pandemic.<br/>