AirAsia Group has announced during the 2019 Paris Air Show at Paris Le Bourget that it has converted orders for 253 A320-200neo to the larger A321-200neo.

"We have spent a number of years reviewing what the future of our operations will look like and today, we’re proud to become the world’s largest customer for the A321neo," AirAsia Group Berhad Executive Chairman Datuk Kamarudin Meranun said in a statement.

The conversion covers nearly the group's entire A320neo outstanding firm order book with Airbus which, as of May 31, stood at 304 of which 37 had been delivered. With the revision, AirAsia’s A321neo backlog will reach 353 while its A320neo backlog will decline to just 14.

The group expects the deliveries of the A321neo to start in the second half of 2019 with the initial four units going two each to AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur International) and Thai AirAsia (FD, Bangkok Don Mueang).

AirAsia currently operates sixty-seven A320s and thirty A320neo. The group's Thai unit operates fifty-one and eleven, respectively; AirAsia India - twenty A320-200s; AirAsia Japan - three A320-200s; Indonesia AirAsia - twenty-five A320-200s; and Philippines AirAsia - twenty-three A320-200s. The group also includes three long-haul AirAsia X subsidiaries which, combined, operate thirty-seven A330-300s.

In terms of unfulfilled orders, AirAsia is the largest customer for the A320neo Family units with a total of 368 on order. India's IndiGo Airlines has 352 outstanding A320neo Family units on order with Airbus.