AirAsia may buy 100 new Airbus planes: Fernandes

Southeast Asia's largest budget carrier AirAsia is considering placing a new order for an additional 100 Airbus planes including the A320neo, chief executive Tony Fernandes said Friday in Singapore.

Fernandes also said AirAsia X, the carrier's long-haul arm, will probably launch an initial public offering in December if all goes according to plan.

“The board is evaluating it now,” Fernandes said of the carrier's ongoing exploratory study of whether it should buy more Airbus planes.

He said if the order goes ahead it will likely be for 100 planes, including the fuel-efficient A320neo.

Last year the Malaysian budget carrier placed a record order for 200 of the medium-haul aircraft, with a catalogue price of $18.2 billion, at the Paris Air Show.

The public-listed discount carrier is one of Airbus's biggest customers with a fleet of 58 new A320s.

According to Airbus, the A320neo model uses 15 percent less fuel than its current top A320 model.

Fernandes, who was speaking with foreign correspondents, also said a December listing for AirAsia X is likely if all falls into place, but the final decision will be made by management.

“It is progressing and the board and the management will decide when is the right time,” said Fernandes. “I reckon it'd be December... If the board agrees and it has been finalised,” he said.

Fernandes has previously said a public listing of AirAsia X was on the cards but did not specify a timeframe.

There have been reports that AirAsia X could list on the Kuala Lumpur exchange by the end of the year to help fund its ambitious expansion plans.

Fernandes, a former record industry executive, plucked ailing AirAsia from insolvency in 2001 and quickly turned it into a profitable budget carrier and one of the aviation sector's biggest successes.

He established a successful template that included flying into cheaper secondary airports in major cities and launched AirAsia X in 2007 to serve routes beyond the airline's core Southeast Asian market.

But AirAsia X this year cut unprofitable routes to Europe, India and New Zealand to focus on expanding its services to China, Japan and elsewhere in Asia.