Airbus poised to win 100 jetliner deal

Bloomberg

Airbus Group SE is poised to win an order for as many as 100 jetliners from AirAsia Bhd, people familiar with the matter said.
The deal may be announced as early as tomorrow, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. The purchase would consist likely of A321neo narrow-body aircraft, which have a list price of US$125.7 million apiece. Buyers typically
negotiate discounts.
The Asian low-cost carrier will use at least some of the narrow-body planes to provide stepped-up service to India, one of the people said. Home to the world’s fastest-growing major aviation market, India posted 20 percent growth in air travel last year, according to the International Air Transport Association. In comparison, passenger traffic in China rose about 10 percent and less than 5 percent in the US, IATA said in a December
presentation.
If AirAsia’s potential purchase is announced in the next few days, it’s likely to rank as one of the biggest orders to come out of this week’s Farnborough International Airshow in the UK.
AirAsia is the largest Airbus customer by number of aircraft, and is ordering more to add to its total fleet of 199, of which 29 belong to its long-haul unit AirAsia X. Two years ago, at the same show, AirAsia group Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes said he’d buy 50 A330-900neo airliners in one of the biggest deals of the annual show.
Airbus rose as much as 1.33 euros, or 2.7 percent, to 50.36 euros in Paris. The stock has lost about 19 percent this year.