VietJet Air has signed orders and commitments for up to 100 A320 family aircraft at the Singapore air show.
The deal, which covers A320ceo and A320neo family aircraft, comprises firm orders for 63 aircraft and purchase rights for 30 more. The Vietnamese airline will also take seven additional aircraft through leasing companies.
The purchase agreement, which confirms a deal announced by Airbus at the Aviation Expo in Beijing last September, comprises firm orders for 42 A320neos, 14 A320ceos and seven A321ceos. Deliveries of the A320ceos begin in 2014 with the A320neos following from 2018.
Airbus chief operating officer for customers John Leahy says that a last minute deal over lunch with VietJet Air executives at the show for an A321neo flight-test aircraft increased firm order from 62 to 63 aircraft.
VietJet Air, which begun operations in 2011, is the first private airline in Vietnam serving domestic and international flights. It currently operates 11 A320s on a network of 20 routes.
Ten of the A320s are powered by CFM International CFM56 engines. The airline says it will stick with CFM for its newly ordered A320ceos but is running a competition between CFM’s Leap and Pratt & Whitney’s PW1000G for the A320neos.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
