![\"Employees](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c1_3251329_800.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCanadian-made aircraft seats 110 to 130 passengers, larger versions also possible<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEmployees work on an Airbus A220-300 passenger jet at a plant in Mirabel, Quebec, near Montreal. (Photo: Reuters)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
MIRABEL, Quebec – The Malaysian \u200cbudget carrier AirAsia has announced a firm order for 150 Airbus A220 jets manufactured in Canada, with 150 options to purchase a larger version of the jet if Airbus decides to produce it.<\/p>\n
The announcement of the biggest aircraft deal in Canadian history, estimated to be worth $19 billion, was made on Wednesday at an event near Montreal.<\/p>\n
The A220 would be \u201cthe perfect tool for our next phase of growth\u201d, AirAsia co-founder and CEO Tony Fernandes said.<\/p>\n
In January, Reuters reported that Airbus would start offering a larger version of the plane, called an A220-500, to airlines \u200band leasing firms. AirAsia\u2019s option to \u2060buy the larger plane does not involve the same level of commitment as its firm order of 150 A220s, which requires a deposit.<\/p>\n
Fernandes said\u00a0in an interview he believes Airbus will produce the larger version of the jet with 180 \u200cseats that would replace the A320 family, leaving the European planemaker to focus on its larger A321 jets.<\/p>\n
The plane, designed originally by the Canadian planemaker Bombardier, typically seats 110 to 130 passengers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis plane was built to be stretched when Bombardier built it,\u201d said Fernandes, who added that AirAsia would be the launch customer for the A220-500.<\/p>\n
Airbus, however, \u2060is now trying to ramp up production of the existing A220 jets so it can break even on the money-losing programme it essentially took for free from Bombardier in 2018.<\/p>\n
It has also faced pressure from the Brazilian-made Embraer E2, which won a campaign with Finnair in March, and outsold the Airbus A220 by three-to-one last year.<\/p>\n
Airbus commercial aviation CEO Lars Wagner said the company intends to decide whether to make a larger version this \u200byear and that reaction from airline customers is positive.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt obviously helps if we have a customer like Tony who publicly said he\u2019s going to order another 150,\u201d Wagner said in an interview. \u201cI see a lot of demand.\u201d<\/p>\n
AirAsia is \u200balso the launch \u200ccustomer of a new 160-seat cabin configuration of the A220.<\/p>\n
The government of the province of Quebec has a minority stake in the A220 programme, which is produced at a site in Mirabel, north of Montreal, and at a separate assembly line in \u200bMobile, \u2060Alabama. A220 planes for non-US customers are produced in Mirabel.<\/p>\n
Back to normal by July?<\/p>\n
Airbus\u2019s decision would come at a time when airlines are trimming flights and raising fears over shortages of jet fuel in Asia and Europe due to \u2060conflict in the Middle East.<\/p>\n