AirAsia close to buying at least 100 Airbus jets in shift to A220

AirAsia is in advanced discussions to place an order for at least 100 Airbus jets at next week's Paris Airshow, a deal likely to mark the introduction to its fleet of the planemaker's smallest jet, the A220, industry sources said.

Malaysia-based low-cost carrier AirAsia operates an all-Airbus fleet and has previously said it was looking to add smaller planes to its fleet for regional routes.

One of Airbus's biggest customers with a few hundred planes already on order, the airline has not placed an order since before the pandemic.

It has taken few deliveries in recent years and has been steadily restructuring its order book as it faced financial difficulties.

The company, hard hit by pandemic travel restrictions, was classified by Malaysia's stock exchange as financially distressed in 2022. It says it hopes to exit this status by the middle of this year.

Capital A plans to sell its AirAsia aviation business to long-haul unit AirAsia X to consolidate long and short-haul operations under a single AirAsia brand.

AirAsia and Airbus declined to comment.