AirAsia placed what it said is a record-sized order for the Airbus A220 family, selecting the A220-300 for 150 jets in what Airbus said is a deal valued at about $19 billion at list prices. The announcement came Thursday at Airbus’ factory in Mirabel, Quebec, where Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney attended.
The airline said its fleet shift targets efficiency as airlines try to manage rising costs tied to fuel and other pressures. The company pointed to the Iran war as contributing to higher prices for fuel and said it expects the A220’s efficiency to help it handle a higher-cost operating environment.
AirAsia said in a statement that the A220 is more fuel efficient and emits less carbon. The airline said that the aircraft’s capacity—up to 160 seats—can help it reach profitability with fewer passengers, which AirAsia said would allow it to open routes to smaller, high-growth markets and secondary hubs that had previously been commercially unviable.
Tony Fernandes, AirAsia’s co-founder and adviser and also CEO of Capital A, the majority stakeholder in the airline, framed the order as part of a long-term plan to cut operating costs. “In an environment of high fuel prices and volatility, the answer is not to stand still, it’s to double down on efficiency,” Fernandes said, adding that the A220 is “the perfect tool for our next phase of growth.”
AirAsia said the purchase includes an option to increase the order to as many as 300 aircraft, which would cover the wider A220 family and potential future variants. Airbus and AirAsia both indicated that airlines often receive discounts from list prices when they buy jets in bulk, and AirAsia said it intends to use the option to match its growth plans.
Deliveries are due to begin in 2028, and AirAsia said it would use the jets to serve destinations across Southeast Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific. The airline said that bringing in the A220s would free up larger Airbus A320s and A321s for mid-haul routes and allow A330s to focus on longer-haul flights to Europe, Australia and North America.
For Airbus, the order adds to its backlog for the A220. The company said the deal would push its total firm orders for the A220 planes beyond 1,000, and it said that as of the end of March 2026 it had delivered 501 A220 aircraft to 25 carriers.
Separately, the broader aviation backdrop includes elevated scrutiny of operating costs and fuel efficiency across airline business models. As MSI previously reported in April, the Iran war has contributed to higher jet-fuel prices and has fed through to airfare pressures in the summer travel period.