Vietnam budget carrier Vietjet to receive Boeing 737 Max aircraft from July

Vietnamese low-cost airline Vietjet is set to receive first Boeing 737 Max aircraft of its order for 200 units from July.

A Boeing delegation, led by country director of Boeing Vietnam Michael Nguyen, made the statement at a Wednesday meeting with the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines is negotiating to purchase 50 Boeing 737 Max, the Boeing delegation noted.

Vietnam’s aviation sector utilized first Boeing aircraft in 1995 as Vietnam Airlines leased three Boeing 767-300ER. So far, the sector has utilized Boeing 737-400, Boeing 767, Boeing 777-200ER, Boeing 787-9, and Boeing 787-10 planes with absolute safety, Boeing noted.

In Vietnam, Boeing has also delivered six ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance and reconnaissance to the Ministry of National Defense.

The CAAV urged Boeing to speed up the delivery of aircraft to Vietnamese carriers to help the aviation sector, in line with Vietnam’s target of becoming a developed nation with high income in 2045.

The CAAV also called on Boeing to help the Vietnamese aviation sector with workforce training (for both pilots and technicians), aircraft maintenance and maintenance-repair-operation (MRO) service, infrastructure development, and digitalization.

In September 2023, Vietnamese budget airline Vietjet and Carlyle Group, a U.S.-based leading financial group, signed an aircraft finance agreement worth $550 million during a visit to Vietnam by then U.S. President Joe Biden. Carlyle Aviation Partners, a wholly-own unit of the Carlyle Group, would finance the 737 Max aircraft from the order of 200 aircraft between Vietjet and Boeing.

Vietjet and Boeing agreed on the delivery timeline for the first batch of Vietjet’s 200 B737 Max order. This order, worth over $25 billion, will be implemented over five years with the first delivery of 12 aircraft scheduled for 2024.