AirAsia has purchased a used Bombardier Global Express business jet from Caterham Jet Global for use as an executive transport.
The aircraft, registered 9M-CJG, was bought for $10 million, and will be used by AirAsia group chief executive Tony Fernandes and executive chairman Kamarudin Meranun for the "purpose of executive efficiency".
The airline says in a Malaysian stock exchange statement that without the business jet there would be a "significant loss of productivity due to inefficient wait times, especially with the high volume and frequency of travel undertaken" by the two executives.
The jet has been operated by Caterham - which is owned by the two executives - since 2012, under an arrangement which saw it second pilots and engineers from AirAsia to operate and maintain it.
AirAsia adds that owning the business jet will save it around $3 million in goods and service taxes associated with its current arrangement.
"It should be noted that private jet prices in Asia have declined over the past two years since the slowdown in the regional economy, which makes Global Express relatively cheap to acquire at the moment," it adds.
Flightglobal's Fleets Analyzer shows the aircraft was built in 1997, and was used by Bombardier as a demonstrator aircraft before being acquired by Caterhamjet in 2012.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
