Airbus is poised to win an order for as many as 100 jetliners from AirAsia, people familiar with the matter said, getting additional commitments from its biggest single-aisle aircraft customer.
The deal may be announced as early as tomorrow at the Farnborough Air Show, 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 $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. AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes, 52, has 304 single-aisle aircraft and 76 twin-aisle jets on order from the European planemaker as he builds a pan-Asian budget airline that seeks to ride the surge in air travel across the continent.
Sepang, Malaysia-based AirAsia and the planemaker declined to comment.
Asian budget carriers, following the growth of AirAsia across the continent, have purchased hundreds of jets from Airbus and its Chicago-based rival Boeing. In 2013, PT Lion Mentari Airlines ordered 234 planes from Airbus, the second time the carrier bought more than 200 aircraft.
Last year, Indian budget airline IndiGo confirmed a $27bn commitment to buy 250 Airbus planes, underscoring growth plans for the decade-old budget carrier. IndiGo is the largest airline in India by market share. China Southern Airlines is the continent’s largest airline by number of fleet, with more than 600 planes.
Airbus rose as much as €1.55, or 3.2 per cent, to €50.58 in Paris. The stock has lost about 17 per cent this year. AirAsia rose 1.9 per cent in Kuala Lumpur trading. The shares have more than doubled this year.
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.
Fernandes, whose budget airline group operated 199 Airbus planes as of the end of March, has used big airshows to place large aircraft orders. Two years ago, at the same event, Fernandes said he’d buy 50 A330-900neo airliners in one of the biggest deals of the show.
Fernandes assumed 40 million ringgit of debt when he bought AirAsia for 1 ringgit (25 cents) in December 2001, according to the airline’s website. The carrier had two old aircraft when he took charge. Prior to running AirAsia, Fernandes was an employee at Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. The budget carrier now operates across India, China, Indonesia and is poised to start in Japan.
Budget airlines in the region are expanding amid a surge in air travel. Home to the world’s fastest-growing major aviation market, India posted 20 per cent growth in air travel last year, according to the International Air Transport Association. In comparison, passenger traffic in China rose about 10 per cent and less than 5 per cent in the US, IATA said in a December presentation.
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULT
Manchester City 5 Swansea City 0
Man City: D Silva (12'), Sterling (16'), De Bruyne (54' ), B Silva (64' minutes), Jesus (88')
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%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Jay%20Chandrasekhar%3Cbr%3EStars%3A%20Jo%20Koy%2C%20Tia%20Carrere%2C%20Brandon%20Wardell%2C%20Lydia%20Gaston%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Neil Thomson – THE BIO
Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.
Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.
Favourite book: I constantly find myself reading The Bible.
Favourite film: The Greatest Showman.
Favourite holiday destination: I love visiting Melbourne as I have family there and it’s a wonderful place. New York at Christmas is also magical.
Favourite food: I went to boarding school so I like any cuisine really.
In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
- 800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
- 150 tonnes to landfill
- 50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
