Vietnam Airlines has revealed ambitious growth plans and expects to more than double its fleet by 2015.
The state-owned carrier has been expanding aggressively in recent years and now operates a fleet of 40 aircraft, comprising ATR 72s, Fokker 70s, Airbus A320/A321s, Airbus A330-200s and Boeing 777-200ERs.
Many of its aircraft are leased, but it says it wants to rely less on this in future because of sharp increases in lease rates and difficulty in sourcing aircraft.
It currently has 10 A321s on firm order with Airbus and deliveries are due to begin soon. It also has four Boeing 787-8s on order for delivery from 2009.
Vietnam Airlines president Nguyen Xuan Hien says the airline had submitted a growth proposal to the country's prime minister outlining a plan to more than double the size of its fleet to 86 aircraft by 2015.
The airline wants to add so many aircraft because of strong growth in demand. Last year it carried more than 6 million passengers and expects to carry about 11 million a year by 2010.
Vietnam Airlines has already been discussing with Boeing a possible follow-on order for 10 787s. It has also been considering ordering more ATR turboprops and says it wants to lease more A330s.
Source: Flight International
