AirAsia to make announcement about A321XLR at Paris Airshow on Tuesday: source

PARIS (Reuters) - AirAsia Group Bhd will make an announcement about the Airbus SE A321XLR narrowbody jet at the Paris Airshow on Tuesday, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

Reuters last month reported the Malaysian low-cost carrier was in negotiations to buy the new longer-range version of the A321 passenger jet, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

Airbus launched the A321XLR, which has a range of up to 4,700 nautical miles, at the Paris Airshow on Monday.

AirAsia’s long-haul arm AirAsia X last year placed an order for 34 A330neo widebodies which it has yet to firm up. Some of those could be switched to long-range narrowbodies, the head of AirAsia X’s Malaysia arm said in November.