AirAsia Group has announced the expansion of its fleet to 221 aircraft following the arrival of four brand new Airbus A321neo jets
Three of the new Airbus A321neo arrivals formed part of a significant long lease agreement with Irish lessor AerCap.
The lease agreement between the two companies includes a further 12 A321neos which are scheduled to be delivered in 2024 and 2025.
With the additional four A321neos, AirAsia Group now has eight operational A321neos serving AirAsia Malaysia and Thailand.
AirAsia hosted a special ceremony at the company headquarters, RedQ in Malaysia with the country’s Deputy Minister of Transport and AerCap representatives in attendance.
“This year marks a pivotal year for AirAsia’s growth as we resume our Airbus A321neo deliveries, aligning with the strong forecast demand. These new aircraft are game-changers, allowing us to enhance our route network, offer longer-range flights, and improve operational efficiency,” said Bo Lingam, CEO of AirAsia Aviation Group.
Lingam added: “We are also proud to be working with AerCap, the largest aviation leasing company in the world known for its extensive portfolio and global reach which underscores the industry confidence in our growth trajectory, while Airbus remains instrumental in our expansion plans over the next five years.”
The new jets will be used on short to medium-haul routes such as Kuching, Tawau, Shenzhen, Kunming, Phuket, Krabi and Chiang Mai.
“The partnership between AirAsia and AerCap dates back nearly 30 years to the founding of the airline, and it is a great pleasure to celebrate the expansion of AirAsia’s fleet as we start to deliver a stream of fifteen new Airbus A321neo aircraft,” Peter Anderson, CCO of AerCap, said at the ceremony.
Anderson added: “These A321neo aircraft will complement AirAsia’s current fleet and will bring improved cost and operational efficiencies, with more capabilities to support its continued expansion throughout the region, and well into the future.”
Lingam said he expects the AirAsia fleet to grow to exceed 300 aircraft in the next five years.
In the first half of 2024, AirAsia launched 20 new routes across its subsidiary carriers, serving over 130 destinations and carrying more than 31 million guests.
