AirAsia says its plan to fully reactivate its 204 aircraft, is supported by a refreshed agreement with its long-term partner and engine provider, CFM International.
The low-cost airline which was severely impacted by the Covid-19 lockdown added CFM’s focus on improving fleet stability on site and 24/7 virtual monitoring of AirAsia’s LEAP-1A engine operation provides a crucial catalyst for AirAsia to reinstate its full fleet across the Group.
CEO of Capital A Tony Fernandes commented, “After over two years of Covid, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We have made enormous strides in bringing back our planes and restarting our operations, balancing a mismatch of cost of 204 planes and revenue of flying 143 planes on average this year.
The airline has managed to bring back 175 planes and is looking at CFM’s fleet stability support to return to full activation. Bo Lingam, Group CEO of AirAsia Aviation added, “We are very pleased with the latest development on our engine supplier and service provider. This will accelerate our plan to bring capacity back, in fact, more than in 2019, as we will be more efficient. This will allow for higher utilisation of planes with less downtime and more consistent flight schedules with better on-time-performance, and enable more efficient use of spares with our engineering arm, ADE. This bodes well to our commitment to safety, reliability, and operational excellence.”
AirAsia looks forward to capitalising on this achievement, as the airline reinstates its 204 fleet and expands to above 300 aircraft in the next five years, as it continues to connect people across Asean and beyond with affordable and best-value travel options.
