Malaysian long haul budget carrier AirAsia X Bhd could defer the delivery of its Airbus A350s if European economies fail to recover by the time it receives the first aircraft in 2018 or 2019, its chief executive said.
Source: Airbus
"You can't really pinpoint it until the first one enters into service and the production schedule gets firmed up by Airbus," said Azran Osman Rani.
The broader economy could also be a factor, he added.
"That really is conditional on the whole European economy bouncing back, travel from Europe to Asia being in a situation where demand exceeds supply, which isn't the case now because of the recession there and a lot of capacity from the Middle East carriers," said Azran, speaking in Singapore on the sidelines of a conference organised by industry consultancy CAPA.
Source: Airbus
AirAsia X has 10 A350s on order. It is due to take delivery of the jets in 2018 or 2019, said Azran. This year, it also ordered 50 A330neo aircraft.
"My immediate strategic focus is growing in depth and concentration across Asia Pacific instead of spreading thinly in going into Europe, U.S. and Africa," Azran said.
Based on the article “AirAsia X could defer delivery of A350 planes – CEO” published in Reuters.
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