&w=3840&q=100)
AirAsia seeks jets for growth but restructuring first priority: CEO
Asia's largest low-cost carrier also remains in talks to buy 100 smaller Airbus A220 or Embraer E2 regional jets but Fernandes, a veteran of eye-catching order announcements, all but ruled out an expected deal at this week's Paris Airshow.
"I don't think there'll be an order at this air show. Were still doing a lot of work with Airbus and other (manufacturers).... I think we'll look to do something imminently, in the next 1-3 months," Fernandes told Reuters in an interview.
"We want to make sure we clear out of our restructuring. The great thing is, we're back in the growth stage." The Malaysia-based low-cost carrier operates an all-Airbus fleet and is one of Airbus' biggest customers, having staged a series of dramatic air show finales after last-minute talks.
The comments came after industry sources said AirAsia was in advanced discussions to place an order for at least 100 Airbus A220 regional jets at the Paris Airshow, with rival Embraer also vying for a chance to win a major breakthrough for its E2 jet.
Two industry sources said Airbus had made an "aggressive" offer to boost orders for its A220 and win a launch customer for a new 160-seat version, or kickstart a larger version still on the drawing board, but that barring any further twist in negotiations on Wednesday the talks had stalled partly over financing.
"There is no deal," one of the sources said.
One of Airbus' biggest customers with over 350 planes on order, AirAsia has not placed an order since the pandemic, but ended a gap in deliveries by taking four Airbus jets last August, marking what it described as a new growth milestone.
It has been steadily restructuring its order book as it faced financial difficulties after a slump during COVID-19.
The company, hard hit by pandemic travel restrictions, was classified by Malaysia's stock exchange as financially distressed in 2022. It says it hopes to exit this so-called PN17 status by the middle of this year as it pursues a recovery.
NETWORK EFFECT
Capital A plans to sell its AirAsia aviation business to long-haul unit AirAsia X to consolidate long and short-haul operations under a single AirAsia brand.
The group also needs consent letters from creditors, of which it has "virtually all of them," Thai Stock Exchange approval, and to raise new capital.
"I am hoping we can wrap up this process in June and complete everything by the end of July .... We are getting closer to my liberation day, not Donald Trump's liberation day," Fernandes said in a play on the nickname for US tariffs.
He said new investors had been "locked in," but declined to provide specific details ahead of any formal announcement.
Bloomberg reported in March that the Saudi Public Investment Fund was set to invest in AirAsia.
"We never confirmed (PIF) or not, but we have all our capital locked in and as soon as we get the consent letters and the Thai Stock Exchange we will announce who the new capital is," Fernandes said.
AirAsia has led a boom in low-cost carriers in the region in the past two decades as incomes rose. Such carriers offer bargain fares by driving costs as low as possible, with large fleets of one aircraft type driving efficiencies of scale.
Fernandes said the airline was ready to tweak that approach by picking smaller planes in a different category.
What does the network need? It needs lots of frequency and it needs the ability to go to more destinations.
Fernandes said he is still in discussions with China's COMAC about a potential order for its C919 narrowbody aircraft, though trade tensions between China and the US - which sources say has suspended engine deliveries - remain a possible obstacle.
We received an offer from COMAC. The geopolitics don't help ... we need to be confident that that's going to be OK, but it's a good aircraft and well certainly look at it.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Nvidia strikes $3 billion revenue-sharing deal with Trump administration to resume AI chip sales in China
Nvidia struck a deal with the Trump administration to continue selling chips to China. The agreement involves Nvidia sharing revenue with the US government. This decision followed earlier export restrictions on Nvidia's H20 chips. Analysts suggest this move is better than letting Chinese companies dominate the AI market. However, some worry it might push China towards domestic chipmakers like Huawei. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Nvidia and AMD face criticism over China deal Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads China's chip market and Nvidia's challenges FAQs Nvidia made a special deal with the Trump administration to keep selling chips to China. The deal means Nvidia will share up to $3 billion in revenue with the US government this fiscal year to sell its H20 chips in Trump confirmed the deal on Monday, saying he granted export licenses to Nvidia in exchange for 15% of the China sales revenue. Trump called Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang 'a brilliant guy' during the from multiple media outlets, including the Financial Times and Washington Post, said Nvidia and AMD made similar deals with Trump, citing unnamed sources. Some trade experts called the deal 'blackmail' and said it might violate the US Constitution's ban on export taxes, as per the report by Washington did not officially confirm the deal but said they follow US government rules and hope export controls allow them to compete in China and worldwide. Nvidia and AMD shares dropped slightly on Monday after the news. China is very important to Nvidia, making up 13% of its revenue last fiscal year, as stated by Yahoo has tried selling lower-power chips to China due to tighter US export controls for national security reasons. Nvidia launched its H20 chips (based on Hopper technology) in 2024. In April, the Trump administration unexpectedly banned Nvidia from exporting H20 chips to China, causing Nvidia to lose billions and its stock to fall sharply. The export ban was lifted in July, but US lawmakers still worry about China's AI Street expects Nvidia to recover $15 billion in lost sales in the second half of the year, reaching about $20 billion total revenue from China for fiscal year 2026. If the revenue reaches $20 billion, the US government could earn $3 billion from the deal (15% of sales).Analyst Stacy Rasgon from Bernstein said it's better for Nvidia and AMD to sell AI chips to China than to let Chinese companies like Huawei take over the AI market, as per the Yahoo Finance is a big Chinese tech company making chips to compete with Nvidia's H20 chips. Nvidia says US export controls might help Chinese rivals like Huawei to grow stronger. Currently, the revenue-sharing deal covers only Nvidia's H20 chips. (Trump's comment).In July, Nvidia also released new chips with its latest Blackwell architecture for the Chinese Rasgon expects China to start buying these new Blackwell-based chips from Nvidia as export rules allow. However, analyst Gil Luria from DA Davidson warns the deal could push China to rely more on domestic chipmakers like Huawei. Luria says China might not want to buy from US companies if they have to share money with the US government, according to the report by Yahoo made the deal to get permission to sell its H20 AI chips to China while sharing part of the revenue with the US US government could earn up to $3 billion from Nvidia's revenue-sharing deal based on 15% of the China sales.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Trump urges China to quadruple soybean buys amid tariff truce talks
US President Donald Trump on Sunday urged China to quadruple its soybean purchases ahead of a key tariff truce deadline, sending Chicago soybean prices higher, though analysts were quick to question the feasibility of any such deal. In a late night post on Truth Social, Trump said China was worried about a shortage of soybeans and he hoped it would quickly quadruple its soybean orders from the US. "Rapid service will be provided. Thank you President XI," Trump said in his post. The most active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) jumped 2.38 per cent to $10.11 a bushel at 0637 GMT on Monday after Trump's post. The contract was steady earlier. China, the world's largest soybean buyer, imported roughly 105 million metric tons last year, just under a quarter coming from the US and most of the remainder from Brazil. Quadrupling shipments would require China to import the bulk of its soybeans from the US "It's highly unlikely that China would ever buy four times its usual volume of soybeans from the US," said Johnny Xiang, founder of Beijing-based AgRadar Consulting. A tariff truce between Beijing and Washington is set to expire on August 12, but the Trump administration has hinted that the deadline may be extended. It is unclear if securing China's agreement to buy more US soybeans is a condition for extending the truce as Trump looks to reduce China's trade surplus with the US China's soymeal futures fell 0.65 per cent to 3,068 yuan per metric ton on expectations US imports could increase supply. China's Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Under the Phase One trade deal signed during Trump's first term, China agreed to boost purchases of US agricultural products, including soybeans. However, Beijing fell far short of meeting those targets. This year, amid Washington Beijing trade tensions, it has yet to buy any fourth quarter US beans, fuelling concerns as the US harvest export season approaches. "On Beijing's side, there have been quite a few signals that China is prepared to forego US soybeans altogether this year, including booking those test cargoes of soymeal from Argentina," said Even Rogers Pay, an agricultural analyst at Trivium China. Reuters previously reported that Chinese feedmakers have purchased three Argentine soymeal cargoes as they aim to secure cheaper South American supplies amid concerns about a possible soybean supply disruption in the fourth quarter. US soybean industry has been seeking alternative buyers, but no other country matches China's scale. Last year, China imported 22.13 million tons of soybeans from the US, and 74.65 million tons from Brazil.
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Pennsylvania House makes last-ditch effort to stave off cuts at Philadelphia's public transit agency
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A last-ditch effort to prevent half of all public transit services from being eliminated in the Philadelphia region passed Pennsylvania's House of Representatives on Monday, as a roughly $1 billion Democratic-backed funding plan advanced toward an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled state Senate. HT Image The bill — which includes funding for highways, too — increases aid for transit agency operations by $292 million, or about 25% more, with the lion's share of the money going to the Philadelphia-based Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. SEPTA has said it cannot keep waiting for more aid and must start making cuts in the coming days, which it says will be more drastic than any undertaken by a major transit agency in the United States. The nation's sixth-largest public transit system has warned that it will cut half its services by Jan. 1 and be unable to provide enhanced service for major tourist events next year. Those include FIFA World Cup matches in Philadelphia, events surrounding the celebration of the nation's 250th birthday, Major League Baseball's all-star game, the PGA Championship and NCAA March Madness games. The legislation passed in the House by 108-95 over the objection of nearly every Republican in the chamber. It has the support of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, but Republican senators have resisted increasing aid for transit. The deadline push comes after two years of stalemate, and as transit agencies nationwide struggle with rising costs and lagging ridership. SEPTA has said that on Thursday it will begin a 10-day preparation period for 20% across-the-board service cuts. Those take effect Aug. 24 and include eliminating bus routes with lower ridership and reducing the frequency of bus, trolley and rail services across the region. Under the plan, fares will then rise by 21.5% on Sept. 1 for the system's approximately 800,000 daily riders. A weekday ride would rise from $2.50 to $2.90 on a bus, train or trolley, it said. Soon after, the agency would impose a hiring freeze and carry out additional service cuts by Jan. 1 that will mean it will have eliminated half its current services, it has said. That will include cutting more regional rail and bus routes and imposing a 9 p.m. curfew on rail services, some of which go as late as 1:30 a.m. currently. Democrats say shoring up public transit agencies around the state is critical to the economy and making sure people can get to work, school and medical appointments. Republicans have objected that transit agencies need to become more efficient, highways need more state funding and transit riders should pay higher fares. Transit agencies in Pittsburgh and elsewhere around Pennsylvania also say they are making cuts or raising fares, or both. Under the bill, an extra 1.75 percentage points of state sales tax revenue — from 4.4% to 6.15% — would go toward a public transit fund to help pay for the operations of several dozen transit systems around the state. The increase represents about $292 million. Democrats inserted several other provisions into the bill in a bid to pick up Republican votes. That includes funding up to $325 million in borrowing authority for highway projects, allocating $275 million for improvements to smaller, rural roads and commissioning the creation of performance standards for the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh transit agencies. ___ Follow Marc Levy on X at
