AirAsia orders 150 A220s in record deal for type

AirAsia has placed a firm order for 150 Airbus A220-300 aircraft, confirmed at a signing ceremony at the Airbus assembly facility in Mirabel, Quebec on 6 May — the largest single order ever placed for the type, pushing the A220 programme past 1,000 total firm orders. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Quebec premier Christine Fréchette attended the event alongside Tony Fernandes, chief executive of Capital A, and Lars Wagner, chief executive of Airbus Commercial Aircraft.

The deal is valued at approximately $19bn at catalogue prices, though orders of this scale typically carry substantial discounts. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2028, with all 150 aircraft to be assembled at the Mirabel facility; the jets will be powered by Pratt & Whitney GTF engines under a 12-year EngineWise Comprehensive service agreement.

AirAsia becomes the launch customer for a new 160-seat cabin configuration of the A220-300, requiring an additional overwing exit beyond the current certified maximum of 149 passengers. Fernandes said AirAsia had held off on the type for years precisely because it wanted a slightly longer aircraft — and noted that Airbus had now delivered that with the new higher-density layout.

The aircraft will service destinations across ASEAN and into Central Asia, with Fernandes stating the order brings AirAsia closer to building "the world's first true low-cost network carrier." AirAsia's existing fleet of approximately 250 aircraft is built almost entirely around the A320 family; the A220 adds a smaller type capable of opening thinner routes and city pairs that cannot support 180-seat narrowbody economics.

Fernandes went further, calling on Airbus to proceed with a 185-seat A220-500 stretch, stating AirAsia would order 150 of that variant if launched — a public push that adds commercial pressure to a programme extension Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said as recently as 28 April was "not close" to commitment. For Airbus, the deal is a significant competitive signal against Embraer's E2 family in the 100-to-160-seat segment, where the A220 has struggled to attract low-cost carrier customers at scale.

The order also carries political weight in Canada: Carney described it as the largest order for a Canadian-designed and produced aircraft in history, and said every jet in the order will be assembled in Mirabel, supporting thousands of jobs across the Canadian aerospace sector. Bloomberg first reported the deal on 4 May; talks are said to have begun as far back as early 2025.