AirAsia orders 150 Airbus A220 jets worth $19 billion 

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MIRABEL, QUEBEC, May 6 : Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia has placed an order for 150 Canadian-designed A220-300 jets from Airbus, the largest single-firm order ever for the jetliner, the companies announced at an event in Quebec on Wednesday.

Airbus commercial aviation CEO Lars Wagner said AirAsia is the "launch customer" of the aircraft's new 160-seat cabin configuration.

AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes said his airline would buy 150 more planes if Airbus makes a stretched version of the A220 jet.

The announcement confirms earlier reports of a deal for 150 A220-300 jets. Fernandes said the order was worth $19 billion.

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The deal is good news for the A220, whose rival, Embraer's E2, won a campaign with Finnair in March, and outsold the Airbus A220 three-to-one last year.  

Airbus is trying to ramp up A220 production so it can break even on the money-losing program it essentially took for free from Canadian planemaker Bombardier in 2018.

The province of Quebec has a minority stake in the A220 program, which is produced at a site in Mirabel, north of Montreal, and at a separate assembly line in Mobile, Alabama. A220 planes for non-U.S. customers are produced in Mirabel.

Reuters reported in January that Airbus would start offering airlines and leasing firms a larger version of its 110 to 130 seat A220 jetliner with a view to launching development later this year.

The planned kickoff aims to line up enough pre-orders to justify going ahead with the roughly 180-seat A220-500 version.

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