“AirAsia X decided to pick the A330-300 because Airbus came with a better commercial deal and the delivery of the aircraft will be faster,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity. He said the official announcement would come Monday.

Losing out on the bid was Boeing and its 777-200, he said.

The official said the catalogue price of each of the Airbus jetliners was US$175 million, making the potential total cost of the deal around US$2.6 billion.

AirAsia officials had previously said that they would prefer to operate aircraft from a single manufacturer to ensure flying costs remain low. AirAsia has ordered 100 Airbus A320s as part of its ambitious regional expansion.

AirAsia X was unveiled in January by low-cost aviation pioneer Tony Fernandes, who launched AirAsia as a regional budget carrier more than five years ago.

The new carrier will be operated by Fly Asian Express (FAX), which currently operates rural air services on Borneo island. It expects to carry half a million passengers in its first year of operation.

AirAsia X’s take-off has been delayed, possibly until September 2008, as delays in Airbus’s new A380 super-jumbo have disrupted the aircraft leasing market.

At its launch in January, the carrier promised flights to Britain beginning this July but Raja Mohamad Azmi, FAX’s chief executive officer, said last month that the service had been put back.

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