Airbus wins $9.2 bn of aircraft orders from Asian carriers
Airbus SE kicked off its sales campaign at this year’s biggest air show by announcing $9.2 billion of orders from Asian carriers that are augmenting their fleets to meet surging demand for air travel in the region.
Taiwanese startup StarLux Airlines said it is buying 12 A3501000 aircraft and five of the smaller A350-900s in a deal valued at $6 billion at list prices that exclude customary discounts. Sichuan Airlines Corp. will purchase 10 of the widebody planes. The A350-900 carries a tag of $317.4 million apiece, valuing the mainland carrier’s order at $3.2 billion.
Besides the above two contracts, the Toulouse, Francebased planemaker is also working on a blockbuster agreement to sell $23 billion worth of aircraft to AirAsia Group Bhd, the continent’s biggest budget carrier, people familiar with the matter said.
The AirAsia orders are still subject to final negotiations, said the people. While no deal has been reached, the sides are close enough that at least part of the sale could be announced during the Farnborough Air Show outside London, the industry’s largest trade expo this year, the people said. The airline, already the second-biggest customer for Airbus’s re-engined A320 narrowbody, is weighing an order for as many as 100 A321neo aircraft.
The purchase of the A321neos would catapult AirAsia ahead of IndiGo, operated by India’s Interglobe Aviation Ltd., as the biggest customer for Airbus’s marquee narrowbody jet, extending the Malaysian carrier’s existing orders to 504 planes.
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