During US President Joe Biden's visit to Vietnam, Vietnam Airlines is expected to sign an agreement to purchase 50 Boeing 737 Max aircraft worth up to $10 billion.
The signing ceremony between Vietnam Airlines and Boeing is expected to take place tomorrow (September 11). VnExpress sources said that the value of the agreement to buy 50 737 Max aircraft by Vietnam Airlines could be around 10 billion USD.
This deal will serve Vietnam Airlines' plan to replace its older aircraft, which are more than ten years old. Four years ago, the Civil Aviation Authority approved the airline's investment project of 50 narrow-body A320/321 or B737 Max 8/9/10 aircraft for the 2021-2025 period. Since last year, Vietnam Airlines has also announced the auction of some old A321 aircraft.
The Boeing 737 Max 8/9/10 versions can carry up to 210 to 230 passengers with a range of over 3,000 km. Currently, similar to other domestic airlines, Vietnam Airlines does not operate any Boeing narrow-body aircraft. The national airline's entire narrow-body fleet consists of Airbus A321s. Of the total of more than 90 aircraft, Vietnam Airlines is operating more than a dozen Boeing 787 Dreamliner wide-body aircraft.
Previously in 2016, during former US President Barack Obama’s visit to Vietnam, Vietjet Air also signed a contract to buy 100 Boeing 737 Max aircraft . In 2018, the airline continued to sign an agreement to buy 100 more of these aircraft.
Since the end of last year, global demand for aircraft has increased due to the recovery in travel demand after the pandemic. In the middle of the year, the leader of a domestic airline also said that adding new aircraft is not easy in the context of increased purchase and lease prices compared to the period 2-3 years ago. As for the two largest aircraft manufacturers in the world, according to Bloomberg , Boeing and Airbus have both sold out the number of aircraft scheduled for delivery until the end of 2030.
Anh Tu
Vnexpress.net
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