Air Asia X ! D7 ! XAX

AirAsia X selected GE’s CF6-80E1 engines to power three firm and two option Airbus A330-200s ordered in March (ATW Daily News, March 1). The aircraft, which is scheduled for delivery from 2012, will be operated on the carrier's expanding network, offering low-fare service to destinations in Europe, Asia and the Pacific.

The Malaysia-based LLC also signed a 20-year On-Point solutions agreement with GE for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of the CF6-80E1 engines. The agreements are valued at more than $600 million, the company said in a statement.

Beochien a écrit:Bonjour !

La signature traîne un peu côté Air-asia, pour les 150-175 A320 NEO !

Probablement en cause ... une cinquantaine de re-conversions peut être !
On en a déjà parlé !
Bon, au prix ou doit les payer AirAsia, la revente rapide ne devrait pas être trop difficile !

--------------- L'expansion qui cite les Echos .. le lien -------------

http://lexpansion.lexpress.fr/entreprise/airasia-sur-le-point-de-commander-150-a320-neo_255926.html

JPRS

Air Asia founder and CEO Tony Fernandes said in Toulouse today (Thursday) that he would reconnect Australia to Europe with long haul flights by his Air Asia X brand in 2015 as an early user of the yet to fly Airbus A350-900.

Fernandes was at the Airbus multiplex to take delivery of his 100th A320, and hinted that before the day was over he might have lifted his total orders for the jet from its present tallyof 375.

Earlier this year Air Asia X discontinued its A340 flights to Paris and London from Kuala Lumpur, but expanded its A330-300 flights within SE Asia, including opening a new service between Sydney and the Malaysia capital in April.

The A350s will fit economy passengers into a cabin with 10 across seating, one more per row than standard A350s, just as his A330s fit in nine across seating where the standard is eight across. A premium cabin with sleepers would undercut whatever price for a similar product was being asked by legacy carriers.

Asked about the end of discussions with Qantas for a proposed premium single aisle carrier based in Malaysia involving the participation of Air Asia and Malaysia Airlines, Fernandes said he had very good relations with Qantas CEO Alan Joyce but “I will no longer have a 20% stake in Malaysia Airlines.”


Airbus graphic of an A350-900 in Air Asia X livery
Fernandes was upbeat about his prolonged pursuit of permissions to set up a new Singapore hub and division to compete directly with Jetstar Asia, Tiger Airways and Scoot.

“I would love to set up a hub in Singapore but the government there won’t allow it,” he said.

“However it took me seven years to get Singapore-Kuala Lumpur flights allowed, and I will keep pressing for the Singapore hub until I get it.”

Fernandes said Air Asia was already the second largest airline by numbers of flights in Singapore after Singapore Airlines, which he said in apparent jest that he intended to buy one day, and emphasised was larger than Jetstar, Tiger and SilkAir.

Fernandes said Air Asia would remain profitable until oil reached $US 150 per barrel.

He said he believed the broad spectrum approach to service standards by traditional carriers like Singapore Airlines was failing and that the market will polarise around the opposites of a premium carriers and low cost carriers with very little inbetween.

The Airbus A330 will remain the core workhorse of AirAsia X's fleet, even as the airline gears towards expansion that could see it order more aircraft in the coming years.

The Malaysia-based long-haul low-cost carrier operates a fleet of 13 A330-300s and two A340s, and has a further 19 A330s and 10 A350s on order. While the A350s will be delivered only after 2018, the carrier will have a fleet of 32 A330s by 2017.

AirAsia X will take delivery of seven A330s in 2013 and 2014 respectively, and a further five in 2015, its chief executive Azran Osman-Rani tells Flightglobal Pro in an interview.

Asked whether more orders can be expected from the carrier, he says: "We think the overall market oppurtunity is far bigger than our firm orders."

"The best way of illustrating it is if you look at the industry, we see it reaching a steady state situation where LCCs get about 50-50 market share split with full-service carriers," Azran says. "If you look at our numbers and you look at their (full-service operators) numbers, you realise that even if we fulfil all of our combined explicit orders, we're only going to get about 20% of existing fleet size today, which basically means there is an easy opportunity to double whatever we have committed today."

Should the carrier only focus on adding frequencies on existing routes, starting new services in countries it already flies to, and kicking off its Thai AirAsia X joint venture, the carrier would have "37 planes worth of opportunities".

He adds that the A330 will remain at the core of its fleet because of the economics the aircraft provides, which it believes, based on its internal numbers, "trumps" the Boeing 787 in terms of per seat economics.

"Looking at the current market price of the 787, I think the A330 gives it a run for its money, without the reliability issues," says Azran, adding that the A330 also has a global fleet scale that makes sourcing for parts easier and cheaper.

He adds that Airbus is also hiking the maximum take-off weight of the A330, raising it from 235t to 242t, which will extend the range of the -300 by 500nm (930km).

"This easily gives you two hours of additional range. If you can get that from an A330, you can get to Europe from KL," says Azran.

Meanwhile, the A350s, which will come after 2018, will give the carrier the option of using it to replace or supplement its fleet.

"It all depends on what its actual proven economics and performance are, because today it's theoretical. If it does turn out to be a true technology that replaces the A330, we'll have a head start with 10 orders, and can expand beyond that. If used to supplement, 10 is probably the right number, because we don't see that big a market in the 12h range," says Azran.

For now AirAsia X excludes in its new 10-year fleet plan the 10 A350s the group ordered several years ago. Mr Azran explained during the 2Q2014 analyst call that AirAsia X now has the flexibility of deciding just prior to the scheduled first delivery in 2018 whether to take the 10 A350s or instead take A330neos. He added that A350s could still potentially be acquired as a niche fleet for European services. But as it does not have to make this decision for another four years they are not in the current fleet plan. This gives the airline the flexibility to review how the A350 is performing after entering service as well as relook at its long-term network requirements.

At least for the time being AirAsia X seems content on sticking to medium-haul services within Asia Pacific. The focus is to grow by using the new joint ventures to connect the dots while continuing to expand from Malaysia by adding destinations in countries already serviced, predominately China.

The flexibility was gained as part of its Jul-2014 deal for 50 A330neos, which gives AirAsia X the option of not taking its final 11 A330ceos. For now these 11 aircraft are slated to be delivered in 2018 and 2019 alongside the first batch of A330neos.