Malaysia's AirAsia to order 25 new Airbus planes

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Southeast Asia's largest low-cost carrier AirAsia will order 25 Airbus A320s to meet rising passenger demand, officials said Friday after announcing plans to launch a new budget airline in Vietnam.

"We will need another 25 A320s, we will make an announcement in the next two weeks to increase our A320 fleet," Chief Executive Tony Fernandes told AFP.

Officials estimate the purchase cost to be around 1.6 billion dollars based on the list price of the model.

The Malaysian budget carrier currently has a fleet of 50 aircraft, but has 150 Airbus A320-200s on order, which it said was needed to handle rising passenger demand.

Tom Ballantyne, chief correspondent with Orient Aviation magazine, said the purchase was part of AirAsia's plans...