Published November 2, 2009

AirAsia defers delivery of another 8 A320s

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(KUALA LUMPUR) Budget carrier AirAsia said on Friday it will defer delivery of another eight Airbus A320 aircraft by four years to 2015 because of infrastructure constraints at its Kuala Lumpur air terminal.

Until a new low-cost carrier terminal is constructed, the current overcrowded budget terminal will not be able to accommodate AirAsia's fleet expansion plans, it said.

'AirAsia foresees infrastructural constraints with the current airport facilities,' the airline said in a statement.

AirAsia in August cited a similar reason when it announced it would defer receiving eight A320 aircraft due in 2010 by four years.

The decision to further scale down on deliveries will allow AirAsia to avoid the costs of having idle or under-utilised aircraft, it said.

AirAsia entered into a purchase agreement with Airbus in 2005 to acquire 175 Airbus A320 aircraft, with a delivery schedule running from December 2005 to October 2014.

In February Malaysia's government vetoed AirAsia's ambitious plan to build its own US$460 million airport far from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

AirAsia had been hoping to improve standards and lower operational costs by abandoning the shabby and overcrowded low-cost terminal next to the main international airport.

But it is now relying on Malaysia Airports Holdings, which runs KLIA, to build a new budget terminal which is supposed to be completed by the end of 2011. -- AFP