Vietnamese budget air carrier Vietjet has placed a firm order with Airbus for an additional 50 A321neo single-aisle aircraft, finalizing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed at the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK last July.
The purchase agreement is valued at US$6.475 billion, with an Airbus indicated list price of $129.5 million per aircraft. The deal was signed in Hanoi, Vietnam November 2 by Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Vietjet president and CEO, and Christian Scherer, Airbus chief commercial officer, the airplane builder said in a statement.
The signing was witnessed by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe during the latter’s official visit to Vietnam.
“The fuel-efficient A321neo will enable us to increase capacity and help us to expand the network significantly, especially on international routes,” said Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao.
The new purchase agreement increases the number of A320 Family aircraft ordered by Vietjet to 171, of which 46 have already been delivered. This leaves the airline with a backlog of 125 aircraft on order with Airbus for future delivery, comprising 120 A321neo and five A321ceo.
The A321neo is the largest member of the best-selling Airbus single-aisle family and is firmly established as the most popular aircraft in its size category, seating up to 240 passengers in a single-class layout.
As part of this agreement, Airbus also deploys a series of strategic partnership programs, including training for pilots, technicians and engineers, and flight management and safety management for Vietjet, reported VNA.
The same day in Hanoi, Vietjet CEO Thao and vice president of sales and marketing for CFM International Philippe Couteaux signed a MOU for a long-term LEAP-1B engine support worth $5.3 billion per the manufacturer’s list price.
The MOU includes spare engines and support packages to serve the airline’s already-ordered new and modern aircraft. CFM International has provided engines for Vietjet’s modern aircraft since the airline began operations in late 2011.
With 60 A320 and A321 aircraft, Vietjet runs over 385 flights per day and has carried more than 65 million passengers on 103 routes to destinations at home and abroad, said the VNA report.
Photo courtesy of Airbus
