VietNamNet Bridge - In the next three years, the national air carrier Vietnam Airlines will replace its current fleet of Boeing 777 and Airbus 330 aircraft with more modern ones.

The information was disclosed by Vietnam Airlines CEO, Pham Ngoc Minh, at a press conference on the firm’s equitization plan and initial public offering (IPO). Accordingly, the IPO will be held in late November this year.

Vietnam Airlines currently has 10 Boeing 777 and nine Airbus 330. As revealed by Mr. Minh, these aircraft will be replaced by Boeing 787 and Airbus 350.

Vietnam Airlines will open a direct route to America as promised. However, Minh said that the firm would have to to carefully calculate economic issues, because the flight time of this route is four hours longer than the Europe route, while the fares are not much higher.

"Therefore, after equitization, investors may want to give priority to flights to Europe than to open a route to the United States," he said.

Regarding strategic investors, Minh said there were several airlines interested in Vietnam Airlines, including ANA Nippon Airways of Japan and investors operating in the financial sector.

"The strategic investors must have financial resources. Nevertheless, the most important thing is their long-term commitment to our airline," he added.

Na Son