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MIRABEL, Québec – Malaysia’s AirAsia Group is ordering 150 of Airbus’s A220 jets, kickstarting flagging sales for the narrowbody aircraft with the largest order in the program’s history.
The commitment, signed Wednesday at the Airbus Mirabel A220 facility by AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in attendance, more than doubles the 66 sales that Airbus logged during 2025 and 2024 combined for its smallest narrowbody family. The deal pushes total sales past the 1,000-aircraft mark for the A220, the jet originally designed by Bombardier that Airbus added to its aircraft portfolio in 2018.
The deal was a long time in coming. While AirAsia has been a stalwart Airbus buyer, the airline’s interest in the Canadian plane dates back to early last decade. Fernandes hosted a high-profile photo op with Bombardier leadership and a gaggle of flight attendants at the plane maker’s cabin mockup at the 2012 Farnborough International Airshow, a sign of his willingness to use the C Series as a stalking horse for future deals with Airbus.
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