AirAsia X will lease six Airbus A330s as the Malaysia-based long haul budget carrier moves to ramp up flights to Australia and Asia.
The Jetstar competitor plans to begin taking delivery of the aircraft next year. The A330-300s are being leased from US-based International Lease Finance Corp in a deal worth about $500 million.
AirAsia X currently operates nine A330-300s and two A340-300s and has an additional 17 Airbus aircraft on order. The carrier this year cut unprofitable routes to Europe and India in order to focus on Australia, China, Japan and South Korea. It currently flies to Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and the Gold Coast.
