KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 (Bernama) -- AirAsia Bhd has signed an amendment agreement with European airplane maker Airbus to revise the delivery dates of eight A320 aircraft originally scheduled for delivery in 2011 to 2014 and 2015.

In a statement to Bursa Malaysia Thursday, the regional low-cost carrier said with the deferments, the original delivery of 23 aircraft in 2011 would be reduced to 15 aircraft.

The original number of deliveries in 2014 would also be increased to 24 aircraft from 18 aircraft while in 2015, the airline would take delivery of two aircraft as opposed to nil, it said.

No penalties are payable by AirAsia in revising the delivery schedule of the 2011 aircraft, it added.

AirAsia said the deferral of the 2011 aircraft was due to forecast infrastructural constraints with the current airport facilities.

It said that until the new low-cost carrier terminal was constructed, the present infrastructure at the low-cost terminal would not be able to accommodate AirAsia's fleet expansion in the number of aircraft originally scheduled to be delivered in 2010 and 2011.

The scaling down of the aircraft delivery in 2011 is to further enable AirAsia to optimise its fleet and avoid the costs associated with leaving idle or underutilised aircraft, thus avoiding incurring depreciation, interest expense and other costs without earning revenue.

-- BERNAMA