On the stage at Airbus\u2019s Mirabel facility north of Montreal, AirAsia\u2019s charismatic chief executive, Tony Fernandes looked down at Prime Minister Mark Carney and then across the audience, and, in his British accent, made the relationship official.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re officially married,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He was reflecting on the deepening relationship between Canada and the low-cost airline he took over back in 2001. He just put in the largest single order ever for a Canadian-made commercial aircraft.<\/p>\n
The 150 Airbus A220-300s ordered, which were once known as Bombardier\u2019s C Series, can carry up to 160 passengers. According to officials, all 150 will be assembled at the Mirabel site by the nearly 5000 employees there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And the 62-year-old Malaysian entrepreneur, who went to boarding school in Surrey, England, was pushing Airbus representatives for more: to build a larger A220-500 variant capable of carrying up to 185 passengers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they build it,\u201d he said onstage, \u201cwe\u2019ll buy another 150.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a US$19-billion deal,\u201d Fernandes added,\u201cwhich can grow to US$38 billion if we can have the large version.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Prime Minister Mark Carney leads Quebec Premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette, M\u00e9lanie Joly, Minister of Industry (behind Fr\u00e9chette) and Bernard Drainville, Quebec Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy to an announcement of the order of A220 aircraft by Air Asia at Airbus\u2019s facility in Mirabel, north of Montreal Wednesday May 6, 2026. John Mahoney \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
Back in 2018, Airbus rescued the program from Bombardier, and initially struggled financially with the aircraft\u2019s development. Quebec invested about $1 billion to keep the project alive before Airbus took control. It later wrote off much of that investment.<\/p>\n
Such is the magnitude and scope of Wednesday\u2019s deal, it marks \u201ca turning point for the Quebec aerospace industry,\u201d as a whole, according to Carney in the speech he gave after Fernandes. He did not provide details on the extent of government involvement in the deal.<\/p>\n
For Carney, however, who was joined Wednesday by Quebec Premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette and Industry Minister M\u00e9lanie Joly, among other politicians, the optics of the deal between a European manufacturer and an Asian buyer all inside Canada fall into his government\u2019s geopolitical strategy: a push for global deals amid trade tensions with the U.S. under President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Aerospace, Carney said \u2014 indeed with Quebec at the heart of it \u2014 remains one of Canada\u2019s most strategically important industries. It is one, he added, that comes up constantly in meetings with foreign leaders and international partners.<\/p>\n
Just last weekend, Carney travelled to Yerevan, Armenia, where he met European leaders while seeking to deepen Canada\u2019s defence and trade ties with the European Union. He has also pursued expanded relations with India, Southeast Asia and China in an effort to reduce Canada\u2019s overwhelming dependence on the U.S. market.<\/p>\n
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France\u2019s President Emmanuel Macron and Canada\u2019s Prime Minister Mark Carney greet each other during the 8th European Political Community (EPC) summit in Yerevan on May 4, 2026. LUDOVIC MARIN \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
But some analysts expressed skepticism, outlining how key questions still loom over the deal.<\/p>\n
One being over how AirAsia has historically revised aircraft commitments. According to Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory, a consultancy focused on aerospace and defence in the United States, AirAsia has a \u201cterrible track record\u201d of following through on deliveries in recent years.<\/p>\n
Between 2019 and 2026, the jet A330-900neo, which AirAsia planned to fly in roughly a 367-seat layout, went through three rounds of cuts. The A321XLR jet, meanwhile, configured in a 236-seat layout, saw orders trimmed by a third.<\/p>\n
Then there is how quickly Airbus, within Quebec\u2019s aerospace ecosystem, can deliver all the planes. <\/p>\n
John Gradek, an aviation expert and faculty lecturer at McGill University, told The Gazette that Airbus has invested heavily to expand the Mirabel facility, so could easily assemble more aircraft. The problem, he said, is whether suppliers can keep up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need 14 a month,\u201d Gradek said of Airbus\u2019s production ambitions tied to the AirAsia deal. \u201cAt the moment, they are at seven.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe plant can do it. The bottleneck is the suppliers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Many components for the A220 come from a sprawling network of manufacturers across Quebec and abroad, he explained. Those suppliers, Gradek argued, are still struggling with labour shortages, production delays and limited capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got underused capacity sitting idle because the supply chain isn\u2019t able to fill the production lines,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Fernandes told The Globe and Mail after the event that he expects the first deliveries to come in the first quarter of 2028.<\/p>\n
M\u00e9lanie Lussier, chief executive of A\u00e9ro Montr\u00e9al, pointed to a different problem in an interview with The Gazette.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople, people, people,\u201d Lussier said. \u201cThat\u2019s the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the industry as a whole will require roughly 65,000 additional workers over the next decade to meet demand.<\/p>\n
And recent immigration restrictions in Quebec have already pushed some skilled aerospace workers out of the province, she added. She pressed for more collaboration between all levels of government and sectors.<\/p>\n
Still, she described the AirAsia agreement as a \u201cmajor agreement,\u201d and one that shows the province\u2019s global competitiveness.<\/p>\n
![\"Lars](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0507-city-carney_302976498.jpg\")
Lars Wagner, right, Chief Executive Officer of Commercial Aircraft Business at Airbus, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Quebec Premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette applaud as Air Asia CEO Tony Fernandes wears a Montreal Canadiens jersey after signing a contract ordering 150 Airbus A220 aircraft at Airbus\u2019s facility in Mirabel on Wednesday May 6, 2026. John Mahoney \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
As part of his speech on Wednesday, Carney vowed to expand Canada\u2019s skilled workforce.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re helping to transform and train our workforce,\u201d he said, pointing to last week\u2019s announcement of a $6-billion investment aimed at recruiting and training more than 100,000 skilled trades workers over the next five years.<\/p>\n
It remains unclear how many of those workers will ultimately enter the aerospace industry.<\/p>\n
Carney\u2019s leadership on the global stage was something that Fernandes applauded, adding that was part of the reason why he wanted to come to Canada personally to support the mission. <\/p>\n
Fernandes took over AirAsia in September 2001 after being inspired by easyJet in the United Kingdom. AirAsia has since grown into one of Asia\u2019s largest airlines, with a fleet of more than 200 aircraft.<\/p>\n
In 2017, Fernandes said an Airbus executive once discouraged him from buying what was then Bombardier\u2019s struggling C Series program.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had been drinking all night in Montreal, turned up in Mirabel with a massive hangover, and the last thing I wanted to do was a test flight,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I was blown away.\u201d<\/p>\n
This event was capped off in a different light: Fernandez was handed a Montreal Canadiens jersey.<\/p>\n
Carney quipped that there\u2019s \u201cnot much more important\u201d than the Canadiens\u2019 Stanley Cup run amid an ongoing trade dispute with the U.S.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look forward to calling the president of the United States and sending him his Habs jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Do you have a story tip? Write to me at hnorth@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n
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