Thailand
Vietnam carriers VietJet, Bamboo sign US$15.6B deals with Boeing in Trump’s visit
On the sidelines of the Trump-Kim summit, VietJet Aviation JSC signed agreements worth US$12.7 billion for 100 new 737 MAX planes at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi in the presence of the US President Donald Trump and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Phu Trong.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President & CEO Kevin McAllister said that the economic expansion in Hanoi and across Vietnam is impressive. “VietJet and the country’s burgeoning aviation sector are clearly enablers, helping to stimulate travel within Vietnam and connecting Vietnam with the rest of Asia. We are proud to support this economic development, which in turn supports engineering and manufacturing jobs in the United States.”
VietJet signed a deal to buy 100 Boeing 737 MAX narrow-body jets when former US President Barack Obama visited Hanoi in 2016, setting the mark for the largest commercial jet purchase in Vietnam’s aviation sector, and making the airline currently the largest customer of the B737 MAX model in Asia.
VietJet Vice Chairman Nguyen Thanh Hung and General Electric General Manager Allen Paxson in the ceremony on February 27. Photo: VietJet
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Separately, General Electric Co. signed a US$5.3 billion deal with VietJet to service engines for 200 Boeing 737 Max aircraft on order.
The two top leaders also witnessed the signing contract between Boeing and newly launched Bamboo Airways. Accordingly, Bamboo will purchase 10 wide-bodied 787 planes or Dreamliners worth $2.9 billion.
Bamboo, owned by property and leisure company FLC Group, had placed a provisional order last year for 20 Boeing 787 wide-body jets worth $5.6 billion at list prices, and Wednesday’s deal is not part of that.
Bamboo is also in talks to buy 25 narrow-bodied Boeing 737 planes, FLC Chairman Trinh Van Quyet told Reuters.
Bamboo Airways Chairman Trinh Van Quyet and Boeing President and CEO Kevin McAllister. Photo: FLC Group
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Bamboo Airways took flight on January 16, 2019 and aims to fly to the US later this year or early 2020 with possible routes to Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Vietnam’s airlines are expanding their fleets and demand for flights in Vietnam is also expected to climb after U.S. regulators last month gave their approval to the nation’s air-safety system, making its airlines eligible to begin direct flights to the U.S. and codeshare with American carriers.