KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 6): AirAsia Group Bhd has signed an amendment agreement with aircraft maker Airbus SAS to convert the budget airline’s remaining A320 aircraft orders to the A321neo.

In a statement on Wednesday (Oct 6), AirAsia said the contract marks its commitment to purchasing the largest model in the bestselling A320 family.

"With the conversion of its remaining 13 undelivered A320 aircraft to the A321neo, AirAsia now has a total order of 362 A321neo aircraft that will be allocated based on demand among airlines within the group, with deliveries up until 2035, as agreed between AirAsia and Airbus. 

"AirAsia received its first A321neo in November 2019 and currently has a total of four A321neo in service. At present, the group has a total fleet size of 211 aircraft comprising 169 A320, 38 A320neo and the four A321neo aircraft,”  AirAsia said.

Seating up to 236 passengers in a single-class layout, the A321neo will enable the airline to increase capacity while benefiting from the lowest operating costs in the single-aisle category, the group added.

"Equipped with Airbus’s Space-Flex cabin that allows for a more efficient configuration of the cabin space, the A321neo delivers optimal passenger comfort and efficiency,” AirAsia said.

On Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday, AirAsia’s share price had risen two sen or 1.79% to RM1.14 at 10.20am, with a market value of about RM4.34 billion.

AirAsia has 3.81 billion issued shares.