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AirAsia receives first Airbus jet with bigger capacity

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Jamaine Punzalan, ABS-CBN News

<div><strong>NEW GENERATION JETS OFFER &#x27;OPPORTUNITIES&#x27; TO REDUCE FARES</strong></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/22/airasia-airbus-jet.jpg"/><figcaption>AirAsia&#x27;s new A321neo is parked at an Airbus facility in Hamburg, Germany before its delivery to Kuala Lumpur. <em>AirAsia/handout photo</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>HAMBURG, Germany -- AirAsia on Thursday took delivery of its first Airbus A321neo, allowing it to fly more passengers with less fuel and giving it room to lower fares, officials said.</p><p>Southeast Asia&#x27;s largest budget carrier ordered a total of 353 A321neo jets, each with 236 seats, 50 more than the older generation A320. The A321neo also burns 20 percent less fuel, said Airbus&#x27; marketing head for the region, Aymeric Dupront.</p><p>The A321neo can fly 5.5 hours, 1 hour longer than the A320, which will allow AirAsia to expand to more destinations in China, Thailand and Australia, said the carrier&#x27;s senior manager for aircraft planning and evaluation, Matthew Glaus.</p><p>AirAsia Philippines is &quot;concretizing plans to purchase an A321neo&quot; that will bring &quot;opportunities for us to offer even lower fares,&quot; said its CEO, Ricky Isla.</p><p>Majority of AirAsia&#x27;s fleet will be comprised of A321 aircraft in the next 5 years, forming its &quot;backbone,&quot; Glaus said.</p><p>The Airbus A320 accounts for 234 out of AirAsia&#x27;s 273-strong fleet, while the rest are wide-body A330s. AirAsia&#x27;s first 2 Air321 jets will service Malaysia. Thailand will get the third and fourth which will be delivered this year.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/22/airasia-exec.jpg"/><figcaption>AirAsia Indonesia CEO Veranita Yosephine, Airbus Head of A320 Family Programme Michael Menking and CFM International General Manager Southeast Asia Region GE Aviation Sean Kim pose for a photo at the foot of AirAsia&#x27;s A321neo. <em>AirAsia</em></figcaption></figure></div><div><strong>MIDDLE CLASS FLYERS</strong></div><p>Air traffic in Asia-Pacific quadrupled to some 1.6 billion passengers last year from 400 million, said Airbus&#x27; Dupront. In the Philippines, domestic air traffic is expected to triple in 20 years due to the &quot;very fast&quot; growth of population and the middle class, he said.</p><p>A bigger plane like the A321neo will allow airlines to carry more passengers without increasing airport parking slots for additional flights, Dupront said.</p><p>Airbus received some 15,000 orders for its single-aisle A320 aircraft family, of which 8,000 are in service as of October.</p><p>It took Airbus 12 years to deliver the first 1,000 A320 jets and only 2 years to deliver the last 1,000, showing &quot;acceleration in production,&quot; he said.</p><p>Eight assembly lines are committed to delivering the backlog on orders, including an automated facility in Hamburg, he said.</p><div><strong>3, 2, 1, TAKE-OFF</strong></div><div class="media-content"><div class="slider-for"><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/22/flight1.jpg"/></div><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/22/flight2.jpg"/></div><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/22/flight3.jpg"/></div></div><div class="media-content slider-desc"><div class="item-desc"><p>Reporters stow luggage in overhead cabins. <cite>ABS-CBN News</cite></p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>A USB port glows blue in a seat armrest of AirAsia&#x27;s new A321neo. <cite>ABS-CBN News</cite></p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>A gadget holder props up a cellphone on a seat tray inside the A321neo. <cite>ABS-CBN News</cite></p></div></div></div><p>Sporting multi-color livery with the phrase &quot;3,2,1 take off&quot;, AirAsia&#x27;s new A321neo jet can carry 5 tons or 40 percent more cargo than older generations.</p><p>Arranged in a single class layout, the aircraft&#x27;s 18-inch wide seats feature contoured backrests, mobile and tablet PC holders, and USB charging ports. Rokki WiFi will equip the jet with inflight entertainment and up to 10mbps internet.</p><p>AirAsia Group last year carried 44.8 million passengers, up 14 percent from 39.09 million in 2017. Industry tracker Skytrax in June ranked AirAsia as the world’s best low-cost airline for the 11th straight year.</p>

<p>The single aisle jet has 50 more seats than the previous model and can fly an hour longer on less fuel.</p>

The single aisle jet has 50 more seats than the previous model and can fly an hour longer on less fuel.

AirAsia receives first Airbus jet with bigger capacity

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AirAsia receives first Airbus jet with bigger capacity

Jamaine Punzalan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 22, 2019 09:49 AM PHT

Read More:

AirAsia

Airbus

Airbus A320 NEO

aviation

transportation

travel

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