New Airbus order from AirAsia is a boost for UK wing manufacturing

AirAsia has made a 42-aircraft order with Airbus – the wings for which are made in the UK – in a deal worth over £4 billion.

Airbus employs 13,000 people at two sites in the UK which produce the wings for Airbus aircraft. Filton is where the engineering and design activity takes place along with some manufacturing, and Broughton is where other major wing component manufacturing and all wing assembly takes place.

The new contract increases the number of A330neo aircraft ordered by AirAsia X to 78. Meanwhile, the A321XLR order sees the wider AirAsia Group strengthen its position as the world’s largest airline customer for the A320 Family, having now ordered a total of 622 aircraft.

The contract was signed by Rafidah Aziz, chairman of AirAsia X and Guillaume Faury, CEO of Airbus in Kuala Lumpur, in the presence of Mahathir Mohamad, the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

“This order reaffirms our selection of the A330neo as the most efficient choice for our future wide-body fleet," said Tony Fernandes, CEO, AirAsia Group, who was present at the signing. "In addition, the A321XLR offers the longest flying range of any single-aisle aircraft and will enable us to introduce services to new destinations. Together, these aircraft are perfect partners for long-haul low-cost operations and will allow us to build further on our market leading position in this fast-growing sector.”

Guillaume Faury, CEO of Airbus commented: “AirAsia X has been the pioneer of the long-haul low-cost model in the Asia-Pacific region. This new order for the A330neo and A321XLR is a true endorsement of the Airbus solution to meet mid-market demand with a combination of single-aisle and wide-body products. This powerful solution will provide AirAsia X with the lowest possible operating costs to expand its network and enable even more people to fly further than ever before.”

AirAsia X currently operates a fleet of 36 A330-300s on services to points within the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East. In addition, in August, the first A330neo joined the fleet of AirAsia’s Bangkok-based long haul affiliate, AirAsia X Thailand. The aircraft is the first of two leased A330neos joining the airline’s Thai affiliate by the end of the year.

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