Budget airline said to be revisiting twinjet years after turning down high-density CSeries.
Airbus is preparing to host a significant event centred on the A220 programme, with strong indications that AirAsia will place a substantial order for the type.
The airframer says a “historic” announcement regarding the A220 will be made on 6 May at its Montreal Mirabel assembly site.
It refers to a “customer” being present for the occasion.
Several media outlets have suggested that AirAsia is in line for an order for up to 150 of the twinjets.
Malaysia’s New Straits Times is reporting that AirAsia co-founder Tony Fernandes — the chief executive of Capital A, formerly AirAsia Group — is travelling to Canada to finalise an agreement.
The A220 emerged after Airbus took over the Bombardier CSeries programme in 2018 and rebranded the aircraft.
Bombardier had previously touted the CSeries to AirAsia several years earlier.
It had offered to develop a high-density version of the larger CSeries variant, the CS300, fitted with 160 seats.
AirAsia opted not to take up Bombardier’s proposal.
Airbus renamed the CS300 as the A220-300, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency approved the aircraft for a maximum of 149 passengers — contingent on fitting a dual-lane overwind slide — in 2021.
The airframer has been trying to ramp up A220 production, and achieve profitability on the programme.
All A220s are powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engines. Airbus is aiming to reach a monthly production rate of 13 aircraft in 2028.
It has repeatedly signalled that it is exploring a stretched version of the A220, but chief executive Guillaume Faury reiterated on 28 April that the conditions for a launch were “not yet there” and that the company was “not close” to declaring any commitment to such a project.
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