Boeing signs deals for 12 Dreamliners with Vietnam
HANOI — Vietnam and US aircraft maker Boeing on Friday signed deals for twelve 787-8 Dreamliners to help the state-run carrier modernise its fleet and meet surging air travel demand.
Vietnam Airlines agreed to buy four of the large passenger jets, and the newly formed Vietnam Aircraft Leasing Company (VALC) will buy eight of the twin-aisle aircraft to lease out to the airline.
VALC said the eight planes it bought, to be delivered from 2016 onward, would cost a combined 1.4 billion dollars, putting the total price tag for the 12 aircraft at about 2.1 billion dollars.
The first of four 787s ordered under a previous deal are due to be delivered by late 2009, and Vietnam Airlines plans to operate a total of 20 Dreamliners by 2015, and 28 by 2020, the airline said in a statement.
"The 787 Dreamliner will enable Vietnam Airlines to better match airplane capabilities with market expectations and demands as the airline expands ...to include North America and new European and Asian destinations," said Michael Fleming, Boeing's senior sales director for the Asia Pacific region.
Communist-ruled Vietnam has also agreed to buy 10 Airbus A350-900XWBs and 20 A321s in a deal that is set to be finalised before December 21. Both deals were agreed in principle in late September.
Air travel is taking off in the country of 84 million -- which has seen tourism and business travel surge amid over 8 percent annual economic growth last year -- and foreign airlines and budget carriers are flocking to Vietnam.
The aviation sector is now growing at 11.7 percent a year, according to a statement on the government's official website.
By 2020, the aviation sector aims to expand by up to 14 percent annually, when Vietnam hopes to be among Southeast Asia's three leading air transport providers, with a maximum of 10 aviation companies, the statement said.
"The aviation sector needs to develop more to provide the infrastructure for economic growth," said Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai.
Vietnam Airlines -- which is set to be part-privatised soon -- now has direct flights to 26 large cities in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe and plans to launch direct flights to Los Angeles by late next year.
Pham Ngoc Minh, chairman of VALC, said that, with the Vietnamese aviation sector growing fast, "we will seek more planes for the development of the Vietnam aviation sector in general and of Vietnam Airlines in particular."
"Vietnam Airlines now owns 46 aircraft and they are not enough at the present stage," he said. Vietnam Airlines plans to operate a fleet of 86 aircraft by 2015, and a total of 110 planes by 2020.
VALC, officially launched Friday, is run by Vietnam Airlines, Vinashin Business Group, the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group, the Bank of Investment and Development of Vietnam and the Phong Phu Corporation.
It plans to buy and lease aircraft and offer on-demand air transport, terminal operation and aircraft maintenance and insurance services.
Agence France Presse - November 16, 2007.
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