AirAsia Orders 150 Airbus A220-300 Aircraft

‍MONTRÉAL — AirAsia (AK) has placed the largest ever firm Airbus A220 order, signing for 150 of the type on Wednesday.

The deal brings the all-time A220 orderbook well past the 1,000 unit mark and makes AirAsia the largest customer for the aircraft in the world, surpassing Delta (DL).

AirAsia is a new customer for the jet, with a current passenger fleet of exclusively A320 family and A330 aircraft across its 7 international branches in Southeast Asia.

It’s not yet clear when exactly these aircraft will be delivered or to which subsidiaries they will be allocated to. Airbus is planning to increase production rate at Mirabel from the current 7-8 to up to 14. Airbus has historically stated that 14 monthly jets are needed to profit on the program, with an immediate goal of 12 monthly by the end of the year.

The deal was announced at Airbus Canada’s Mirabel final assembly facility near Montréal, Quebec, with AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes, CEO of Airbus Canada Guillaume Chevasson, CEO of Airbus Commercial Aircraft Lars Wagner, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and newly sworn-in Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette.

“We have built AirAsia by making bold decisions at the right moment, not the easiest moment. This order reflects our long-term discipline and the scale of our ambitions. The A220 unlocks new markets and routes and brings us closer to building the world's first true low-cost network carrier,” said Tony Fernandes. “Our partnership with Airbus spans more than two decades and has been central to everything we have achieved. Today is another milestone in that journey, and there are many more to come.” 

“The A220 will provide an optimal platform for AirAsia, combining low operating costs with the range that will enable the carrier to open new routes across Asia and beyond,” stated Lars Wagner. “Airbus and AirAsia teams have been working tirelessly to reach this landmark agreement, which is fully aligned with the airline’s new network strategy.”

The A220 recently celebrated its 500th delivery in March.

AirAsia’s A220 jets are unique

Not only will AirAsia be the world’s largest operator of the A220 (at least according to disclosed order books), but its units will be notably different from any other A220 around the world.

Their A220-300s will have 160 seats in a single-class layout, the highest possible capacity per Airbus specifications. With this added capacity, Airbus will be required to add an additional overwing exit to these jets, two rather than the standard one found on all A220-100s and -300s flying today.

This is similar to many high-capacity A319 operators today, like EasyJet (U2) and Allegiant Air (G4), who each fly them with 156 seats in a single-class layout. Since their configuration has more than 149 seats, an additional exit is required to ensure all passengers can evacuate in 90 seconds or less, per international regulations.

AirAsia is the launch customer of the 160-seat layout on the A220-300.