AirAsia’s Fernandes teases large aircraft order, eyes more widebodies

The AirAsia group of airlines “will definitely” be placing a large order for aircraft over “the next two years”, although it will not be adding to the flurry of order announcements at this year’s Paris air show. Tony Fernandes, CE of AirAsia parent company Capital A, tells FlightGlobal that the group has other priorities at this stage. “I think it’s crazy for me to talk about orders now when I haven’t got all my planes back [in service],” he says. “But this is a business…and you need to plan quite a few years ahead, of course. I would say… over the next two years, we will definitely be placing large orders.” At the 2011 edition of the Paris air show, AirAsia made headlines when it placed an order for 200 A320neos. Then at 2019’s show, it became the largest A321neo customer in the world after converting 253 of its A320neo orders to the larger variant. With existing Airbus narrowbody commitments in place, Fernandes says the group is looking at “potentially acquiring” more widebody aircraft as an immediate priority – pointing to a robust recovery in the medium-haul market. Low-cost medium-haul operator AirAsia X currently operates most of the group’s widebodies, flying a fleet of Airbus A330-300s.<br/>