AirAsia X firms up option for 5 More Airbus A330-300s

Fly Asian Express (FAX), the operating company for AirAsia Long Haul, the world’s newest long haul low cost airline, has signed a contract for 15 A330-300s, increasing its initial commitment by five aircraft. This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for 10 A330 firm orders and five options at a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur in April 2007. The first new A330 will be delivered to FAX during the third quarter of 2008.

The A330-300 has a range of up to 10,500km/5,650nm and has flown over five million operational hours.

Dato’ Tony Fernandes, FAX Director, “The firming of the additional orders reaffirms our ambition to be the world's most profitable point-to- point long haul low cost carrier. The South East Asian market is ripe and constantly looking for cheaper alternatives for air travel. With this optimism in mind we will continue to continue to look into increasing our fleet via leases or acquisition to support our growth.”

Louis Gallois, President and CEO, Airbus, said “Having partnered AirAsia so successfully, we look forward to extending the success of that partnership with FAX. We are delighted to see the innovative low-cost spirit of AirAsia extended to longer range routes operated by AirAsia Long Haul and are confident that the A330’s unbeatable combination of low seat costs and high passenger appeal will ensure great success for this new airline.”

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