AFP, Farnborough :
Malaysian airline AirAsia X Tuesday signed an outline agreement to buy 50 long-haul A330-900-neo passenger planes from Airbus, the European planemaker said.
The deal is worth $13.75 billion (10.11 billion euros) at catalogue prices and deliveries are due to start in 2018, Airbus said on the second day of the Farnborough airshow near London.
Plans for the neo, a new version of the long-standing A330 thanks to upgraded engines, were launched by Airbus at the key industry event on Monday.
“AirAsia X, the long-haul affiliate of Asia’s largest low-cost airline (Air Asia), has signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus for 50 A330- 900neo aircraft,” said a statement.
“The agreement sees the airline become a launch customer for the latest version of the best-selling widebody. AirAsia X will also be one of the first operators of the aircraft,” Airbus added.
Airbus’s main rival Boeing, ahead of the show, raised its forecast for industry aircraft sales over the next two decades to $5.2 trillion, driven largely by demand from low-cost carriers.
AirAsia co-founder Tony Fernandes said the neo was the aircraft “we truly need to develop (to) further our low-cost, long-haul model”.
“I think this is going to be a remarkable plane,” he told a press conference at Farnborough.
