AirAsia shares down on news Airbus puts up orders for sale

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Group Bhd’s share price fell after global aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, reportedly gave up on the former’s six reserving planes and intended to put them on sale as crisis in the aviation industry deepens due to Covid-19 pandemic.

As at closing, AirAsia was down by two sen or 2.41 per cent to 81 sen with 65.47 million shares changing hands.

The pending orders involved four A320neo and two A321neo, according to a Reuters report quoting sources.

It said the unusual move was following AirAsia’s decision that it doesn’t need any more aircraft this year amid lockdowns and travel restrictions following the pandemic that have hampered the tourism industry, especially the airlines.

Buyers can fetch the planes from France or Germany in June, complete with optional onboard equipment ordered by AirAsia, the report said.

When contacted by Bernama, both AirAsia and Airbus declined to comment.

“We don’t comment on delivery schedules for individual customers,” an Airbus spokesperson was quoted as saying in the report.

AirAsia is one of the largest Airbus customers.

In August 2019, AirAsia inked agreements with Airbus for the order of 42 new aircraft comprising 12 A330neo and 30 A321XLR for its long-haul carrier AirAsia X, for a combined value of over US$5 billion ( RM20 billion). — Bernama