KUALA LUMPUR: Capital A Bhd's low-cost carrier AirAsia has taken three of Airbus A320 aircraft which were previously flown by MYAirline Sdn Bhd.

AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd group chief executive officer (CEO) Bo Lingam said the three narrowbody aircraft were taken about one week ago and added into AirAsia's fleet.

"We took three of their (MYAirline) aircraft from lessor AirCastle Ltd about one week ago. Deposit has been made," he told Business Times recently.

MYAirlines, in a response, said it was unable to comment or verify the recent fleet movements, and it was currently in discussions with its potential investors.

"We are still in the midst of reinvestment talks with our potential investors and due to privacy agreements in place we are unable to comment or verify recent fleet movements. We will be in touch with the media once we are able to announce updates," MYAirlines said to a query last week.

On Oct 16, Business Times reported that AirAsia was keen on leasing a few of the 10 A320s that were previously flown by MYAirline.

Bo had said that AirAsia and MYAirline were leasing from the same aircraft leasing companies.

MYAirline had leased 10 narrowbody aircraft from eight lessors, which are Aviation Capital Group LLC, AerCap Holdings NV, Aircastle, Avolon, Carlyle Aviation Partners, Genesis, Mizuho and SMBC Aviation Capital.

All but one of the lessors had leased one A320 each to MYAirline. Aircastle leased two to the cash-strapped budget carrier.

Checks on Nov 8 revealed four A320s with MYAirline livery parked at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

On Nov 6, Business Times reported that all 10 of MYAirline's fleet were to be returned to the lessors after less than one month of its flight suspension on Oct 12.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia had confirmed that it received a deregistration request of five aircraft namely with registration numbers 9M-DAC and 9M-DAD on Oct 26, 9M-DAJ and 9M-DAL on Oct 27 and 9M-DAH on Nov 3.

MYAirline had confirmed that six of its aircraft were deregistered by its lessors while four aircraft remained registered and managed by lessors and assisted by its Continuing Air Worthiness Management Organisation.

"We're actively engaged in discussions with our lessors with the intention of retaining these aircraft once the recapitalisation process concludes," the airline said in a statement on Nov 6.

MYAirline also said it was in an advanced stages of negotiations with two potential investors who were keen to invest in the carrier.

https://www.nst.com.my/business/corporate/2023/11/983347/airasia-confirms-taking-three-a320-aircraft-previously-flown