Witnessed by Prime Minister of Malaysia YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the agreement was signed on Monday in Paris between Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A, and Christian Scherer, CEO of Airbus Commercial Aircraft.
Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A and Advisor & Steward of AirAsia Group said: “We pioneered low-cost travel in Asia – now, we are taking it to the next level. AirAsia is on a transformative journey to become the world’s first low-cost network carrier. This is about exponential growth, connecting geographies beyond Asean, and making flying even more democratic. We gave people in Asean the opportunity to explore Asia – now we want the world to see Asean, and Asean to see the world. The A321XLR and A321LR are the game-changers enabling this vision, and we are proud to lead the charge in making our world smaller. We can’t wait to paint the skies even wider in red.”
“We are pleased to confirm this agreement, as AirAsia Group begins its next development chapter. Having resumed its growth trajectory, which we salute and support, the airline is creating solid fleet efficiencies, allowing global network expansion. The A321XLR unlocks new opportunities for AirAsia to launch non-stop flights linking primary and secondary cities all around the globe,” said Christian Scherer, CEO Commercial Aircraft at Airbus.
The next-generation A321XLRs will operate alongside AirAsia’s all-Airbus fleet of A320 Family and A330 aircraft. AirAsia Group aims to carry 150 million guests annually by 2030, reaching a cumulative total of 1.5 billion guests since inception.