Thai AirAsia (FD, Bangkok Don Mueang) is on track to close the year with 60 aircraft and plans to receive four or five additional aircraft over the next five years, CEO Santisuk Klongchaiya said earlier this month at an AerCap event in Malaysia.
Klongchaiya said the LCC had received two A321-200NX in June and July, taking the total at the airline to four, and that it expects a fifth later this year. He said the incoming aircraft over the remainder of the decade would be mostly NX types but could include some A321-200NY(XLR)s, depending on route expansion plans. While the incoming aircraft will see the overall fleet grow, some will be used to replace existing aircraft coming to the end of their lease periods.
Klongchaiya said the A321neo(XLR) could open up some interesting expansion opportunities, including to the Middle East. He described it as a "versatile plane" the cost savings of which would allow Thai AirAsia to look at expanding into secondary airports in Southeast Asia. "In the next five to ten years, Thailand's aviation business is likely to grow exponentially," he said.
Speaking at the same event, AirAsia Aviation Group CEO Bo Lingam said the group of airlines, including AirAsia, Thai AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia, AirAsia Cambodia, and Philippines AirAsia, is operating a combined 221 aircraft and plans to increase that to 300 over the next five years. According to Airbus delivery data, AirAsia, which supplies its affiliate brands with aircraft, has 361 A320neo types on order. Deliveries resumed in June after it released the pause button kept in place during Covid-19 and the recovery period.
AerCap is delivering fifteen new-build A321-200NX to the group on long-term leases. Thai AirAsia took one, HS-EAD (msn 11971), in July. It took its first, HS-EAC (msn 12089) from BBAM in June. AerCap also delivered two more NX to AirAsia in July - 9M-VAC (msn 11939) and 9M-VAD (msn 12132). The lessor says it will deliver the remaining 12 before the end of 2025.
