Malaysia-headquartered AirAsia Group expects to take delivery of its first Airbus A321LR in 2026, as it looks to “unify” the operations of its short-haul and medium-haul units.
The group, which also has operations in Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and the Philippines, expects to receive four jets in 2026, according to fleet plans disclosed alongside its quarterly results.
It will be the first of at least 62 A321LRs that the group has on order. In February 2024, it converted part of its A321neo orderbook to the longer-range variant. AirAsia also has orders for the A321XLR variant.
The new A321LRs will “kickstart our narrowbody-led fleet strategy”, states AirAsia. In late-October, the group confirmed its long-term goal to eventually operate only narrowbodies as a “low-cost network carrier”.
The group is being divested by parent Capital A to sister unit AirAsia X, with the deal expected to be completed by the end of the year.
AirAsia also confirms that it will be reactivating its full fleet of 220 aircraft by the end of the year.
“With no further new deliveries scheduled for [the fourth-quarter], our operational focus is strictly on maximising the utilisation of the restored fleet to capture the peak holiday demand,” the group states.
As for AirAsia X, its final stored A330 will be returned to service by early 2026. It will also be reconfiguring a pair of mid-life A330s, a move it says will “drive revenue upside”.
