Vietnam’s Vietjet has placed a firm order with Airbus for 20 A321 single aisle aircraft to meet growth on its domestic and regional network. The purchase agreement, covering 10 A321ceo and 10 A321neo, was signed in Hanoi today by Vietjet President and CEO, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao and Fabrice Brégier, Airbus President & CEO.

The signing took place during the state visit to Vietnam of François Hollande, President of France, and was witnessed by Mr Hollande and Tran Dai Quang, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

In addition to the new order, Vietjet and Airbus also finalised an agreement for the manufacturer to provide training services for flight crew and maintenance personnel at the airline’s new facility in Ho Chi Minh City. This will see Airbus oversee courses at the facility identical to those offered at the manufacturer’s own training centres.

At the signing ceremony, the President and CEO of Vietjet Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo ‎shared: “Vietjet is developing robustly and sustainably with an aim at better serving our passengers and promoting tourism and economic development in Vietnam and other regional countries.The friendly relationship in politics and culture between Vietnam and France has been nurtured through generations. Two countries are heading towards a more efficiently economic cooperation of which today agreement of Vietjet and Airbus is a vivid example. We do take pride in and appreciate Airbus for their efforts and supports since our operation. Thanks to our modern fleet with advanced designs, fuel efficiency as well as effective supports in operations, training and system development, Vietjet will continue to realize passengers’ dreams of flying, to create a future in the air with an aim at making Vietjet become more and more popular globally.”

“We are pleased to sign our latest purchase agreement with Vietjet,” said Fabrice Brégier, Airbus President & CEO. “Vietjet is benefitting from the very significant economies that come from operating a single aircraft family. For busier routes the A321 combines higher capacity with the lowest operating costs in its class, offering unbeatable efficiency. We look forward to developing further our partnership with Vietjet, including working with the airline to develop its new training facility.”

Vietjet first took to the skies at the end of 2011 and now operates a fleet of 40 A320 Family aircraft. Following today’s announcement the airline has placed firm orders with Airbus for a total of 119 A320 Family aircraft, including 54 A320s and 65 A321s.