Vietjet, controlled by Vietnamese billionaire Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, is moving to own wide-bodied jets for the first time as it eyes major expansion into long-haul destinations.
On Thursday, Airbus announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietjet for the carrier to buy 20 A330-900 wide-bodies. The planes will replace the carrierâs current fleet of A330-300s, which are leased.
VietJet and Airbus didn’t provide the contract value. The order could be worth about 5.9 billion, based on a 2018 price list published by Airbus. The aircraft manufacturer no longer publishes its prices.
The Airbus statement quoted Vietjet chief executive officer Dinh Viet Phuong as saying the A330neo aircraft would âcomprehensively modernise Vietjetâs fleetâ.
The MOU was signed at the Singapore Airshow. On Wednesday, also at the airshow, Vietjet said that it had chosen U.S.-based Pratt & Whitney to power 19 Airbus A321neo aircraft. Vietjet now operates a…