VietJetAir to add more than 100 Airbus single aisle aircrafts

Vietjet Air, the nation's first privately-owned carrier, on February 11 finalised a major order for the A320 family to meet its future expansion plan.
The signed purchase agreement, held in the framework of EU-ASEAN Aviation Summit and Singapore Airshow 2014, will cover firm orders for 42 A320neo (New Engine Option), 14 A320ceo (Current Engine Option) and seven A321ceo, plus 30 purchase rights. Besides, the airline will lease seven more A320 family aircraft from third party lessors.
The order of 63 aircraft is valued at USD6.4 billion, and the purchasing agreement of 100 aircraft is valued at USD9.1 billion. The first aircraft of this contract will be delivered within this year.
This is the next step of the agreement which was signed on September 2013 in Paris under the witness of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and French Prime Minister Mr. Jean-Marc Ayrault.
“The A320 has proven to be efficient in service with VietJetAir and is a favourite with our passengers. Based on this experience, we look forward to developing our business across the Asia-Pacific region. Airbus will be our strategic partner and provide us with the most economic and comfortable aircraft, and coordinate with VietJetAir in relevant training programs”, said Mr Luu Duc Khanh, Managing Director of VietJetAir.
This order reinforces the A320 Family‘s position as the preferred choice in the single aisle market, both for full service and low cost carriers.
According to Airbus statistics, within the next 20 years, the Asia-Pacific region will rank top of the world in demand for types of aircraft, around 11,000 ones. In the passenger aircraft market alone, airlines carriers in the region are expected to increase their fleet from 4,960 to over 12,130 in the next 20 years, mainly due to increased demand and replacement for the current fleet of 3,770.
Vietjet Air is operating 11 aircraft of the A320 series, covering 19 routes in Vietnam, Bangkok (Thailand), Seoul (Korea) and Kunming, capital of Chinese Yunnan province. This year, the airline plans to expand its international network to 7 destinations in Asia-Pacific region.
Besides, Thai Vietjet Air (joint venture between VietJet Air and Thailand's Kan Air) also needs a lot of aircraft as its first commercial flight will be operating from this June, with 3-5 domestic and 2-3 international routes.
Singapore Airshow, one of the world's largest civil military airshows, is held every two years. This year's event is taking place from February 11-16 at Changi International Airport of Singapore./.