KUALA LUMPUR (June 22): AirAsia Bhd is buying an additional 14 Airbus A320ceo aircraft in anticipation of the budget airline's near-term regional network growth. 

In a statement today, AirAsia said it had signed the agreement with Airbus to order the 14 aircraft. AirAsia said it announced the deal at the Paris Air Show today.

AirAsia group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said in the statement: “Demand is very strong in AirAsia’s traditional countries, but now we have Indonesia, the Philippines and India doing extremely well. The robust demand has led us to expand our fleet and Airbus has been a great partner in finding us slots."

"We still need to find more aircraft to expand our regional reach and are actively sourcing from the leasing market. The competitive environment is at its best, coupled with a stable oil price. With the lowest cost in the world, AirAsia is back on aggressive growth," Fernandes said.

According to AirAsia's statement, the additional 14 Airbus A320ceo aircraft will raise the number of Airbus A320 entities ordered by AirAsia to 592.

"To date, 171 A320ceo and eight A320neo have already been delivered to the airline and are flying with its units in Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines," AirAsia said.

At Bursa Malaysia, AirAsia shares rose six sen or 2% at 3:41pm to RM3.17, for a market value of RM10.63 billion.

The stock saw some eight million shares traded.