BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Reuters) -Vietnam Airlines will subject requests for proposals to plane producers subsequent 12 months to buy 50 narrowbody jets, its CEO mentioned on Wednesday.
The service final 12 months signed a provisional take care of Boeing for 50 737 MAX planes that has but to be finalised.
“In Vietnam we have to go through the bidding process, we have to open to others… The door is still open for everyone,” Vietnam Airlines CEO Le Hong Ha advised Reuters on the sidelines of an Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines occasion in Brunei. “Boeing is one option, they have a very good offer for us.”
Airbus and Boeing are the principle international producers of single-aisle plane, with Airbus’ A320neo household competing in opposition to the 737 MAX, although Chinese planemaker COMAC is attempting to make inroads with its C919.
Vietnam Airlines’ present narrowbody fleet consists of solely Airbus planes, its web site confirmed.
The airline wants 170 new plane by 2035, its CEO mentioned.
The requests for proposals go away open a risk for COMAC to supply the C919. China has more and more been advertising its planes to Vietnam.
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met a senior COMAC official final week in China who mentioned the Vietnamese market had robust potential, Vietnam’s state information company reported.
(Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Writing by Jamie Freed; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Christopher Cushing)
