Malaysian budget airline AirAsia Thursday announced an additional order of 34 Airbus A330neo planes, bringing the total value of its expanded 100-plane order to $30 billion as it sets its sights on European routes.
The first delivery of the fuel-efficient widebody jets will arrive towards the end of 2019 and will allow the airline to take on longer non-stop routes to Europe, AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes said.
_______________
Read more:
AirAsia CEO aims to put airline on a new trajectory
Asian demand bonanza ahead for Airbus and Boeing
_______________
These will be used by its long-haul arm, AirAsia X, replacing its older first-generation A330s.
"We can now start the London route ... This plane allows us to fly to Brazil, Namibia and anywhere we want," he said.
The Kuala Lumpur-London route was dropped in 2012 due to low demand and high fuel prices.
"We lobbied hard for the A330neo after seeing the success of the A320neo, and working closely with Airbus, we have arrived at an aircraft that we are confident will allow us to expand our low fares offering beyond Asia Pacific to the rest of the world," AirAsia X chief executive Kamarudin Meranun said.
The deal makes AirAsia the biggest Asian customer of European aviation giant Airbus, which has been locked in a tight battle for dominance with US rival Boeing.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
US households add $601bn of debt in 2019
American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.
Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.
In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.
The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.
"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.
