AirAsia may order up to 100 Airbus planes

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Bhd may order up to 100 planes from Airbus at the Berlin airshow next month, Bloomberg said.

In its report on Wednesday, it quoted newly-appointed chief executive officer Aireen Omar that negotiations with Airbus were going on quite well. The low-cost carrier would like to sign the deal in Berlin, she said. AirAsia already has outstanding orders for 272 single-aisle A320s, Bloomberg reported.

To recap, AirAsia Bhd posted a 3% drop in net operating profit to RM130.94mil for the second quarter ended June 30 compared with the quarter a year ago on a drop in ancillary income and a marginally lower seat-load factor of 80%. Revenue increased 9.22% to RM1.18bil in the quarter under review on the back of a 10% growth in passenger volume as well as higher average fare of RM177 compared with RM164 previously.

Aireen said despite the majority of airlines losing money or being severely behind in earnings amid higher fuel prices, AirAsia had continued to outperform each quarter by posting healthy profits.

-thestar online.