Vietnam Airlines to buy 5 Airbus planes this month
HANOI - State-owned Vietnam Airlines will sign a contract to buy five Airbus jetliners this month as part of its 10-year expansion plan, a company official said Tuesday.
Vietnam Airlines spokesman Nguyen Chan said the airline has received government approval to buy five Airbus A-321 planes, but he gave no figures on the contract's value.
The airline has also signed contracts leasing one Boeing 767 aircraft and one ART-72 plane to prepare for its growing operations in the coming months, Chan said.
ART planes are made by France-based Avions de Transport Regional.
In September 2001, the airline had signed a letter of intent to buy five Airbus 321s, but the deal wasn't finalized because of the impact on the global airline industry of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States last year.
The airline currently operates 28 planes. Vietnam is trying to seal purchasing contracts this year in order to take advantage of low prices that are being offered by foreign aircraft makers, state media reported.
European plane-making consortium Airbus Industrie is a fierce rival of American aircraft maker Boeing Co.
The Associated Press - October 8, 2002
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