AirAsia expected to buy 200 Airbus A320 jets
A RECORD 200-plane order from Asia’s biggest budget airline looks set to dominate a windfall of deals at this week’s Paris Air Show.
Air Asia, run by Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes, is understood to be finalising a $17bn (£10.5bn) order for 200 A320 planes from Airbus, according to a Sunday paper.
The order, expected to be unveiled on Thursday at the end of the Paris Air Show, will break the record for the largest number of aircraft sold in one contract.
Former Warner music executive Fernandes bought the airline in 2001 for a mere 25p from the Malaysian Government. AirAsia now flies 30m people a year to more than 20 countries. In May it reported a 46 per cent year-on-year rise in operating profit of 241.72m Malaysian ringgit (£49.2m).
EAD’s Airbus declined to comment.