fleet-analysislcc-strategyaircraft-transferaviation-industry

Sun PhuQuoc Airways is absorbing AirAsia's A321LR fleet — what the numbers say

SPA has acquired 2 more A321LRs from lessors that were delivered to AirAsia in July. That brings SPA's AirAsia-origin fleet to 18 aircraft — 12 in service, 6 in retrofit or transition. Here's what the registrations show.

Vietnam / Malaysia, Vietnam / Malaysia 0 days 8 min read

Written by Kavi Rajan · Aug 19, 2026

The story

Sun PhuQuoc Airways (SPA) — the Vietnamese startup — has acquired 2 A321LRs (formerly 9M-XVD and 9M-XVF, both delivered to AirAsia in July, now VN-A925 and VN-A926) that never operated an AirAsia commercial flight. That takes SPA's AirAsia-origin fleet to 18 airframes: 12 A321neos (non-LR), 3 A320neos, 2 A321ceos, plus the incoming 2 A321LRs. Kavi walks the routing of each: half the A321neos went to Qatar Airways as an interim placement before landing at SPA; half went direct. All arrived in AirAsia's 236-seat single-class layout — 3 have been retrofitted to a 208-seat dual-class configuration, the rest are queued. Kavi also flags the 4 A320ceos SPA has just acquired from BBAM (being returned by AirAsia among 25 "older aircraft"), and the sale-leaseback structure SPA is now shopping for those airframes. Worth watching: whether 9M-XVC and 9M-XVE — the two A321LRs still at AirAsia — end up at SPA in the same lessor-mediated pattern. Cites ch-aviation fleet data throughout.

Take the trip

See our AirAsia route-map + fleet overview (updated weekly).

Route map →

Riyadh Air launch year — what the fleet mix actually reveals about the strategy

Riyadh Air's first-year fleet decisions tell you exactly what the network strategy is — 39 787-9s and 60 A321neos on order, minimal narrow-body long-haul (A321XLR). That is not a hub-and-spoke play. That is a targeted long-haul carrier that will price-compete Emirates on 20% of routes.

Riyadh · 0 days