Vietnam Airlines adds one Airbus to aircraft fleet
HANOI - The first Airbus A321-200 out of the 10 narrow-bodied planes Vietnam Airlines ordered landed on Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi yesterday after two days of flying from Hamburg City north of Germany.
“The new plane will be put to use very soon,” an officer of Vietnam Airlines said yesterday. It helps the national flag carrier ensure timely schedules for its domestic and overseas flights, especially during the Lunar New Year, or Tet, when air travel surges.
The Airbus plane is part of Vietnam Airlines’ biggest aircraft deal signed in December 2004 to buy 10 Airbus A321-200s and two backup engines. The airline will receive the remaining Airbus aircraft until 2009 to expand its Airbus A321 fleet to 16 in that year.
The carrier will use the 10 new Airbus planes for its domestic and international flights. Vietnam Airlines spokesman Nguyen Tan Chan told the Daily earlier that the 10-Airbus deal was worth more than US$800 million.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung last week approved the credit guarantee for Vietnam Airlines purchase of four Airbus A321-200 aircraft of the deal, guaranteed by Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance.
Late last year, Calyon Corporate and Investment Bank of France, one of France’s leading financial institutions, signed a loan with Vietnam Airlines for the Airbus purchase.
By Anh Minh - The Saigon Times Daily - January 12, 2007.
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