SEPANG: Capital A Bhd's low-cost carrier AirAsia Bhd is interested in leasing up to six out of nine of MYAirline Sdn Bhd's Airbus A320s.
AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd group chief executive officer (CEO) Bo Lingam said AirAsia is talking to all eight of MYAirline's aircraft lessors to determine the final number of aircraft that the budget carrier will be taking.
"They (lessors) asked us last week if we're interested and we said yes. We'll confirm by next week on the number of A320s we'll be taking," Bo told Business Times today after the launch of AirAsia's free seats campaign.
He added that AirAsia and MYAirline are leasing from the same aircraft leasing companies.
The eight lessors are Aviation Capital Group LLC, AerCap Holdings NV, Aircastle Ltd, Avolon, Carlyle Aviation Partners, Genesis, Mizuho and SMBC Aviation Capital.
All but one of the lessors had leased one A320 each to MYAirline. Aircastle leased two to the budget carrier.
Business Times had reported yesterday that MYAirline was expected to return its nine A320s that make up its fleet.
It was learnt that the eight aircraft lessors had asked the financially-troubled airline to hand back the narrow-body airplanes since it ceased flight operations on Thursday (Oct 12).
Meanwhile, AirAsia had announced fares from RM25 all-in one-way from Kuala Lumpur to Penang, Langkawi, Alor Setar, Johor Bahru and Kuala Terengganu, among others.
The offer also includes Bali, Krabi, Phnom Penh, Phu Quoc and Bangkok, among others, from RM80 all-in one-way.
AirAsia X Bhd is offering flights from Kuala Lumpur to Gold Coast, Busan, Taipei and Beijing from RM269 all-in one-way on economy seats.
Flights are available for booking starting today until Oct 25 with the travel period between March 4 2024 and Feb 12 2025.