The new aircraft.

The ceremony in Toulouse.

This is first of 100 aircraft ordered by the Vietnamese carrier from the European aviation giant. The new Airbus is scheduled to land at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City today, November 27.

The new aircraft is also the first one to feature the symbol of the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) - a leading aircraft sale-leaseback arranger in Vietnam - on the fuselage.

The delivery of this brand-new jet marks a major milestone in the development of Vietjet, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Airbus in September 2013 before finalizing the deal at the Singapore Airshow this February.  

The newly delivered aircraft (VJC6341) is a single-aisle aircraft, which is manufactured and assembled, according to the strict standards of Airbus. It is one of Airbus’ most popular models. The aircraft features modern and advanced technologies making it more fuel- and cost-efficient.

With 180 seats in the aircraft cabin, this model is ideal for Vietjet, which operates domestic routes and a growing number of short-haul routes across Asia. 

“The aircraft purchase contract between Vietjet and Airbus has paved the way for Vietjet to sustainably develop and expand its flight network over the next 10 years at the best possible operational costs while benefiting from training courses from Airbus,” said Deputy Minister Pham QuyTieu. He added that the Vietnamese government has been upgrading airport facilities throughout Vietnam, where there are 24 commercial airports including nine international airports.

Mr. Tieu also expressed his delight that Airbus now produces certain components in Vietnam - a further boost to Vietnam’s reputation for aviation related industries. “As always, we welcome investment in the aviation industry, airport infrastructure, and other air services,” he said.

“This is a momentous occasion for us. Receiving this plane highlights how far we have come in three years of operations and it also marks the beginning of the next phase of our development,” said Vietjet Managing Director - Mr. LuuDucKhanh.

“We are proud to be playing a crucial role for the aviation industry in Vietnam. With a solid business plan and a strong fleet, we can better control operational costs and offer even better fares and more flying opportunities to our customers so everyone can ‘Enjoy Flying’,” Khanh added.

Khanh also said that Vietjetwill continue to enhance and expand its flight network throughout Vietnam and across the region, contributing to the development of the aviation industry in Vietnam and Asia Pacific.

“We are proud of delivering the first aircraft to be purchased from Airbus by Vietjet. We are pleased that this fast-growing carrier has selected Airbus aircraft as the platform for its future growth and we look forward to building on our strong and mutually beneficial partnership.  We are confident that the A320 will play a key role in enabling Vietjet to realize its ambition to become a leading player in the Asia region. And we are greatly honored to partner with Vietjet on this journey,” said Mr. John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer – Customers of Airbus.

Earlier, Vietjet and Airbus held the last technical check on November 24 before completing the ‘Transfer of Title’ on 25 November, both compulsory processes which are required as part of Airbus’ rigorous testing and certification program.

Vietjet - the first privately-owned airline in Vietnam - is applying the operation model of a new age airline. With the fleet of 18 Airbus A320 aircraft, Vietjet now operates 150 flights per day, transporting eight million passengers in total so far. The airline is covering 28 local and international routes across the country and the region to Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, and Cambodia.

Vietjet will take delivery of 6-12 Airbus aircraft every year. The airline plans to order the world leading aircraft manufacturers new wide-body aircraft in order to launch international routes to Europe and expand the flight network across the Asia Pacific region. 

PV