AirAsia eyes potential Airbus A321neo freighter

Kuala Lumpur

MALAYSIA'S AirAsia Group is in talks with Airbus about its interest in the manufacturer developing a new freighter version of its A321neo passenger plane, the head of its logistics arm said on Wednesday (Nov 3).

AirAsia would seek to convert a "meaningful chunk" of its 362 orders for the passenger version of the A321neo narrowbody to a dedicated freighter, said Pete Chareonwongsak, CEO of AirAsia logistics division Teleport.

"For a lot of the markets that we need to reach both in range but also in capacity, it's a great product," he told reporters of the potential freighter. "Would we be the launch customer? I don't know. We'll see."

Chareonwongsak cited reports that China's JD Logistics plans to have a fleet of 100 freighters by 2030 as an example of the scale that AirAsia could seek in its cargo business as it focuses on growth in e-commerce. "We think that South-east Asia, if we focus on this market, can absorb that level of capacity," he said.

Airbus did not respond immediately to a request for comment on whether it planned an A321neo freighter.

Industry website Leeham News in August reported Airbus was in talks with customers about a new freighter version of the A321neo but no decision has been announced.

Airbus in July announced plans for a freighter version of its A350 widebody jet, in a challenge to Boeing Co's longstanding dominance of the market for dedicated cargo planes.

In the narrowbody market, older versions of the A321 and 737 passenger planes are being converted into freighters but there is no new-build freighter plane on offer.

Teleport on Wednesday launched its first 737-800 freighter to be based in Bangkok. It plans to grow the fleet to 6 planes by 2023, Teleport chief operating officer Adrian Loretz said.

Teleport is in talks with investors to raise US$50 million to US$100 million by the end of the year and would look to list as a separate company in three years, Chareonwongsak said.

The division, which also carries cargo in the belly of AirAsia passenger planes and has a food and parcel delivery business, is aiming for US$1 billion of annual revenue within 3 years, he added. REUTERS