Industry Vietjet orders 50 additional A321Neo

The order originates from an MOU that was signed during the Farnborough International Airshow last July. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Vietjet President and CEO and Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer now signed a firm agreement.

With the additional 50 A321Neo aircraft, Vietjet hopes to further strengthen its network and to increase capacity. The aircraft will be delivered over the coming years.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao explains: “The fuel efficient A321Neo will enable us to increase capacity and help us to expand the network significantly, especially on international routes.”

Scherer added: “We are honoured to be a long-term partner of Vietjet and to finalise this new order [...] The airline’s latest preference for the Airbus product, in particular the A321, is a testimony to Vietjet’s professionalism and a great endorsement for the A321 in the highly competitive market.”

With the new order, Vietjet has now an order backlog of 171 A320 Family aircraft, from which 46 have already been delivered. The remaining 125 aircraft comprise five A321Ceos and 120 A321Neos. Currently, the all-Airbus fleet operator has taken delivery of three A321Neo aircraft.

Airbus´s A321Neo can accommodate up to 240 passengers in a single class layout. With the longest range in its category, the aircraft has become a popular choice for airlines. The aircraft is capable of flying up to 4,000 nautical miles (7408km) nonstop. With state-of-the-art engines, the A321Neo offers a fuel consumption reduction of around 15 percent per seat.

Vietjet is a Vietnamese low-cost carrier, headquartered in Hanoi. The airline was founded in November 2007 and commenced operations in December 2011. Since then, the fleet has grown to 50 Airbus aircraft including 18 A320Ceos, three A321Neos and 29 A321Ceos. In addition, subsidiary airline Thai VietjetAir was commenced scheduled passenger flights in 2014 with a fleet of five A320Ceos and two A321Ceos.