AirAsia X Purchases 3 A330-200s + GE CF-6 Engines

[flee 5]

AirAsia's long-haul subsidiary AirAsia X has ordered three Airbus A330-200s, to be delivered from 2014.

 

The airline has ordered the 238t increased take-off weight version of the aircraft, which will allow it to fly non-stop from Kuala Lumpur to Europe, says Airbus.

 

It has not specified an engine selection for the new aircraft. The carrier could not be contacted for comment.

 

AirAsia X will configure the aircraft in a two-class layout with a total of 288 seats, and will operate it to destinations in Europe, Asia and the Pacific, says Airbus.

 

"This order reflects our positive outlook for the long haul low cost market out of Asia," says AirAsia X's CEO Azran Osman Rani. "With its low fuel burn, spacious cabin and extended range, the A330 is the perfect aircraft for us to build our business, enabling more people to fly further at lower cost than ever before."

 

With the new order, AirAsia X would have ordered 28 A330s, says Airbus.

 

The airline operates nine A330-300s and has 17 more on order, according to Flightglobal's ACAS database. It also operates two Airbus A340s and has 10 A350s on firm order.

 

Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/02/28/353703/airasia-x-orders-three-a330-200s.html

 

Airbus media release: http://www.airbus.com/newsevents/news-events-single/detail/airasia-x-orders-more-a330s/home/

[KK Lee 5]

A332 burn less fuel than 772, may be MH should order A332 to replace 772 for service to EUR.

Edited February 28, 2011 by KK Lee

[flee 5]

I suspect that this is a defensive move to cover any delays in the A350 deliveries. These three aircraft could be used for additional and thinner routes to Europe in addition to the two A340s. When the A350s are finally delivered, D7 might then return the fuel guzzling A343s to the lessors.

[Fashni M. 0]

A332 burn less fuel than 772, may be MH should order A332 to replace 772 for service to EUR.

 

Its all about MTOW. For the A332 to do KUL-Europe it must carry virtually no cargo at all. The 772 can do it while carrying valuable cargo for the same mission. So at the end of the day, the 772 will generate more revenue.

[N Azman 0]

Its all about MTOW. For the A332 to do KUL-Europe it must carry virtually no cargo at all. The 772 can do it while carrying valuable cargo for the same mission. So at the end of the day, the 772 will generate more revenue.

 

Spot on Fashni. A332 a bit of neither here nor there aircraft but its a necessary evil since they muffed the SFC figures so badly with the A340 series. Theyve got no other economical choice for a long haul plane cept for the A380...

 

But then, D7 don't have that much belly cargo to carry anyway so i suppose coupled with the deep discount they get out of airbus, it would make a lot of sense.

[flee 5]

For anyone interested, this article helps to explain why Airbus' "ancient" A330 is still selling well: http://www.malaysianwings.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=15563

 

 

An update to this story from Business Times: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20110228173521/Article/index_html

 

AIRASIA X targets RM2 billion revenue for 2011, up from RM1.3 billion in 2010, from increase in ancillary income and ticket sales.

 

The long haul budget airline plans to grow ancillary income by 20 per cent this year.

 

AirAsia X chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani said it expects to carry 2.7 million passengers in 2011.

 

He was speaking to reporters after the signing ceremony for the purchase of another three aircraft from Airbus in Kuala Lumpur today (Feb 28). The aircraft have a list price of RM1.5 billion.

 

Two of the A330-200 will be delivered by mid-2012, while the other one is only due to arrive in 2014.

 

AirAsia X has an option to order two more.

 

The A330-200 can fly non-stop from Kuala Lumpur to Europe.

Edited February 28, 2011 by flee

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

How I wish I could feast on Air Asia X Sdn. Bhd. accounts to peruse the details.

 

- RM2 billion revenue for 2011, up from RM1.3 billion in 2010

- grow ancillary income by 20 per cent

- 2.7 million passengers in 2011

 

Can't wait for their listing at stock exchange so that all these information will become public.

[flee 5]

D7 CEO Azran Osman-Rani Tweets:

RM1.5 billion for three A330-200s, with higher 238ton gross weight specification. Can fly to London direct, with less fuel.

 

going with more premium. 24BC + 264EY, and better per-seat economics

[Ahmad M 1]

288 seats on the -200 on a flight more than 12 hours long! Wow !

[KK Lee 5]

Its all about MTOW. For the A332 to do KUL-Europe it must carry virtually no cargo at all. The 772 can do it while carrying valuable cargo for the same mission. So at the end of the day, the 772 will generate more revenue.

 

Underbelly cargo may be profitable but if pax yield and load is low, net income is more likely be negative.

 

[flee 5]

Well D7 does carry some cargo but I don't think it will significantly impact their payload.

 

I was made to understand that the A332's to be delivered in 2012 are swapped from the A333 order and new slots were created for the remaining A333 orders in 2014-2015.

 

The arrival of the A332s would also mean that the fuel guzzling A343s will be retired from the fleet. So, KUL spotters - better get all your XAB and XAC photos, if you have not already done so!

 

288 seats on the -200 on a flight more than 12 hours long! Wow !

The seats will have the same pitch as existing D7 aircraft - so no change here.

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

My spy at the AK Gossip Division emailed me this at 9 am Malaysian time yesterday. But I was too occupied with works to first break the news. This is for completeness purpose.

 

KUALA LUMPUR, 28 FEBRUARY 2011 : AirAsia X, the long haul, low fare affiliate of Malaysian based AirAsia Group has signed a firm contract for 3 new A330-200s with an option for 2 more, which brings the airline’s total order to 28 A330’s. Scheduled for delivery from 2014, the aircraft will be operated on the carrier's expanding network, offering low fare service to destinations in Europe, Asia and the Pacific.

 

AirAsia X has ordered the 238 tonne increased take-off weight version of the A330-200, which is capable of flying non-stop from Kuala Lumpur to Europe. The airline will configure the aircraft in a two class layout with 24 Premium flatbeds and 264 Economy seats.

 

The agreement was signed by Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun, the Chairman of AirAsia X and Dr. Kiran Rao, Airbus Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing. It was witnessed by The Honourable Datuk Seri Dr, Chua Soi Lek, Dato' Sri Dr. Tony Fernandes, Founder of AirAsia X and Azran Osman-Rani, CEO of AirAsia X. The signing ceremony took place today at the Westin Kuala Lumpur with the attendance of AirAsia X’s business partners and members of the media.

 

Azran Osman-Rani, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia X said “This order reflects our positive outlook for the long haul low cost market out of Asia and the investment valued at RM1.5 billion would contribute significantly to the Prime Minister’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) targets, specifically in realising the Prime Minister’s strategy of prioritising direct flights to strategic and important markets. This would ensure Malaysia achieves its tourism targets in 2020.”

 

“With its low fuel burn, spacious cabin and extended range, the A330-200 will further improve our fuel efficiency and carbon emissions and strengthen our position as having the world’s lowest unit cost, enabling more people to fly further at lower cost than ever before," concluded Azran.

 

"This latest order from AirAsia X underscores the position of the A330 as the most efficient aircraft in its class flying today," said John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer Customers, Airbus. "The A330's low operating costs, range capability and proven reliability make it the clear winner for airlines flying in the growing long haul budget market."

 

AirAsia is the largest low cost airline group in the Asia-Pacific region and operates an all-Airbus fleet. Altogether, the group has now ordered over 200 aircraft from Airbus, including 175 single aisle A320s, 28 A330s and 10 A350 XWBs.

 

The twin engine A330 is one of the most widely used wide body aircraft in service today. To date, Airbus has won more than 1,100 orders for the various versions of the aircraft and over 700 are currently flying with almost 90 operators worldwide.

[BC Tam 2]

A332 burn less fuel than 772, may be MH should order A332 to replace 772 for service to EUR.

No need order new ones lah, thought they have a few leased in 332's already ?

Just go try try first with those loh

If find ok, then reassign them from those missused/abused regional routes

But then got to find something to cater for those 'prestige' services for the VVIP's

Wait, those now redundant 772's will do just fine

See, win-win situation bah

[flee 5]

Airbus Info Page for the A330-200

[flee 5]

From The Star: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/3/1/business/8160974&sec=business

 

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia X (AAX) has signed a contract to buy three new A330-200 aircraft for RM1.5bil as part of its expansion strategy and it hoped to earn RM2bil in revenue this year.

 

This latest aircraft order that comes with an option to add two more aircraft will be deployed for long haul destinations into Europe and possibly Africa from next year onwards.

 

AAX is still pinning its hopes to ply the KL-Sydney route but it has yet to receive the approval from the Government.

 

AAX chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani said the airline would use the new aircraft to increase frequencies to Paris and London and ply new routes in Europe.

 

He did not identify the new routes but earlier reports suggested that AAX was considering the viability of flying to Nice, Cologne, Berlin and Moscow.

 

“The purchase of the new A330-200s will make the economies of long haul flying more viable as the aircraft is 15% more fuel efficient,'' Azran said after the signing ceremony held between AAX and Airbus which was witnessed by National Economic Council member and MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

 

AAX will take delivery of two aircraft beginning the middle of next year and the third in 2014.

 

On funding for the new planes, Azran said it would be via a variety of debt financing solutions.

 

AAX now has 28 orders for A330 and 10 A350. The airline has taken delivery of eight A330-300 and the A350 will only be delivered from 2015.

 

“Instead of waiting for the A350 aircraft we can continue our long haul expansion with the A330-200. We are also adding more seats for our XL class from 18 to 24 and we believe we offer significant value for a fraction of the cost of a business class seat,'' he said.

 

Azran said the airline carried 1.92 million passengers last year and this year he expected AAX to fly 2.7 million passengers.

 

In terms of revenue, he expected the airline to earn RM2bil this year from RM1.3bil last year. AAX recorded RM81mil net profit and saw a 14% return on equity in 2010.

 

“We are looking at a 50% to 60% growth in revenue this year and as at end of last year we have a cash balance of RM358mil,'' he adds.

 

The KL-Sydney remained a contentious route as it had been more than a year since the airline had asked for landing rights. The city is listed in the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) as one of the 10 cities which the Government has plans to increase flight frequencies.

 

At last week's ETP meeting on tourism it was said the matter was brought up again as to what was holding up the opening of the route to competition.

 

“We were led to believe that there may be a paper presented to the National Economic Council on the matter soon. We, as a group are committed, but we also know things like this takes time. It is up to the Transport Ministry to look into it, we cannot give an update on when we will get (the nod for KL-Sydney),'' AAX founder Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes said when asked on the status of AAX's request to fly the KL-Sydney route.

 

Dr Chua said the paper had not been submitted but “I am sure the Government will make a decision based on national interest and not the interest of Malaysia Airlines or AirAsia.''

 

On the initial public offering (IPO) of AAX, Fernandes said it was on schedule this year although AAX must first get approval for its route expansion from the Government.

 

“One of the factors that we have to look at before going for an IPO is the route allocation policy, we have to determine what this is going to be, there must be clarity,” Azran said.

 

“One of the most important things for us is (also) the issue of equity as the expansion of AAX is inevitable, but we need to (raise) money to support the 20 planes that we want to buy.''

 

The airline is considering a dual listing, on Bursa Malaysia and possibly the other on a US stock exchange.

 

Azran expects AAX to fly some new destinations this year. However, the inaugural flight to Christchurch in April will go on as planned despite the recent earthquake in New Zealand.

 

Over the weekend, AAX announced that former International Trade and Industry Minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz would take over from Datuk Kamarudin Meranun as the airline's new non-executive independent chairman. Kamarudin said that the airline could tap into Rafidah's vast expertise in dealing with government and international trade matters.

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

Breaking news!

 

My spy at the AK Gossip Division just leaked that Azran and Uncle Tony are now in New York City, joining the Prime Minister's entourage. The big news is that D7 will be signing an agreement with GE Aviation http://www.geae.com/ tomorrow.

 

The key point with this news leakage is that what D7 is planning with GE? All their A333s are powered by RR.

[JuliusWong 0]

Breaking news!

 

My spy at the AK Gossip Division just leaked that Azran and Uncle Tony are now in New York City, joining the Prime Minister's entourage. The big news is that D7 will be signing an agreement with GE Aviation http://www.geae.com/ tomorrow.

 

Thanks MAR for the info. So more GE CFM 56 engines?

[KK Lee 5]

Breaking news!

 

My spy at the AK Gossip Division just leaked that Azran and Uncle Tony are now in New York City, joining the Prime Minister's entourage. The big news is that D7 will be signing an agreement with GE Aviation http://www.geae.com/ tomorrow.

 

The key point with this news leakage is that what D7 is planning with GE? All their A333s are powered by RR.

 

GE engine for A350?

[Sri Ramani K. 0]

Breaking news!

 

My spy at the AK Gossip Division just leaked that Azran and Uncle Tony are now in New York City, joining the Prime Minister's entourage. The big news is that D7 will be signing an agreement with GE Aviation http://www.geae.com/ tomorrow.

 

The key point with this news leakage is that what D7 is planning with GE? All their A333s are powered by RR.

 

First part of your info is now no more a rumour based on TF's tweet.

 

@tonyfernandes PM speech is all about Asean. Malaysia center of Asean. 600 million people. PM said airasia is worlds best low cost company and asean global brand.

Edited May 17, 2011 by Sri Ramani K.

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

And the second part of my news leakage will about to be 'unrumour'-ed within a few hours, as reported by Dow Jones (excerpt from the news article in the AirAsia Singapore thread):

 

Its long-haul international unit, AirAsia X, is slated to announce a pact with General Electric Co.''s (GE) aviation unit on Wednesday. Fernandes didn''t want to steal the unit''s thunder, but hinted that the pact could involve aircraft engines, a new type of Airbus aircraft AirAsia X hasn''t purchased before and new routes for AirAsia X to Europe.

 

GE lost out on a previous contract to supply AirAsia X airplane engines, and has been aggressively courting AirAsia for new business, he said. GE CEO Jeff Immelt has been "a fantastic friend" of AirAsia.

[flee 5]

GE engine for A350?

The A350's sole engine is the RR Trent XWB. GE does not have any engine on this aircraft. It may, however be able to take part in future larger A350 variants.

[flee 5]

May 18 (Reuters) - General Electric Co (GE.N) signed a deal worth $600 million over 20 years to supply and maintain jet engines for AirAsia X, Malaysian carrier AirAsia Bhd's (AIRA.KL) low-cost airline.

 

AirAsia will buy GE jet engines for three new Airbus (EAD.PA) A330-200 jets that it expects to take delivery of in 2012, with the option of two additional aircraft, the companies said on Wednesday.

 

"AirAsia X's acquisition of the new technologically more advanced and fuel-efficient GE engines would help us accentuate our network expansion," AirAsia X Chairman Y.B. Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz said in a statement.

 

GE, the world's largest maker of jet engines, competes with United Technologies Corp's (UTX.N) Pratt & Whitney unit and Rolls-Royce Group Plc (RR.L). The largest U.S. conglomerate has increasingly built its industrial business model around service contracts on the equipment it sells, which it says provide a reliable revenue stream over time. (Reporting by Scott Malone; editing by John Wallace)

 

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/05/18/ge-engines-idUKN1823932020110518

 

GE CF-6 Engine History: http://www.geae.com/engines/commercial/cf6/history.html

[JuliusWong 0]

Why does Air Asia needs another engine type in their fleet: CFM 56, RR and now CF-6..? Bear in mind A332 is just a small fleet.

 

So in the end:

- A320: CFM

- A332: GE

- A333: RR

- A350: RR (only engine supplier now)

Edited May 18, 2011 by JuliusWong

[flee 5]

Why does Air Asia needs another engine type in their fleet: CFM 56, RR and now CF-6..? Bear in mind A332 is just a small fleet.

 

So in the end:

- A320: CFM

- A332: GE

- A333: RR

- A350: RR (only engine supplier now)

D7's first A333 aircraft, 9M-XAA is also CF-6 equipped. This will enable the sole plane to gain a little in economies of scale? There could potentially be 5 A332s in D7's fleet.

 

Another thing could be that this is the beginning of a relationship with GE that may extend further in the future. With RR engines breaking and catching fire, it is good not to be too dependent on just one engine type in your fleet.

[KK Lee 5]

Edited May 18, 2011 by KK Lee