AirAsia owner seeks jets for growth but restructuring first priority, CEO says

By Tim Hepher

PARIS (Reuters) -The CEO of Capital A Group, Tony Fernandes, said on Wednesday the owner of AirAsia is in talks to buy 50 to 70 Airbus A321XLR jets in coming months, but that the first priority is to complete the group's restructuring.

Asia's largest low-cost carrier also remains in talks to buy 100 Airbus A220 or Embraer E2 regional jets but there is unlikely to be any announcement on plane orders at this week's Paris Airshow, he told Reuters in an interview.

"I don’t think there’ll be an order at this air show. We’re still doing a lot of work with Airbus and other (manufacturers).... I think we’ll look to do something imminently, in the next 1-3 months," Fernandes said.

"We want to make sure we clear out of our restructuring. The great thing is, we're back in the growth stage."

The Malaysia-based low-cost carrier operates an all-Airbus fleet and is one of Airbus' biggest customers.

The comments came after industry sources said AirAsia was in advanced discussions to place an order for at least 100 Airbus A220 regional jets at the Paris Airshow, with rival Embraer also vying for a chance to penetrate the all-Airbus carrier.

AirAsia has also had an offer from China's COMAC, Fernandes said.

AirAsia has previously said it was looking to add smaller planes for regional routes.

One of Airbus' biggest customers with over 350 planes on order, AirAsia has not placed an order since before the pandemic, but ended a gap in deliveries by taking four Airbus jets last August, marking what it described as a new growth milestone.

It 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 so-called PN17 status by the middle of this year as it pursues a recovery.

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.

The group also needs consent letters from creditors, of which it has "virtually all of them," a Thai approval and to raise new capital.

"I am hoping we can wrap up this process in June and complete everything by the end of July. We are getting closer and closer," Fernandes said.

Fernandes said new investors had been "locked in," but declined to provide specific details ahead of any formal announcement.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher. Editing by Joe Brock and Mark Potter)