Boeing wins $11bn 100-plane order from Vietnamese budget carrier
aTP- Arab tourism portal- The Vietnamese budget airline VietJet has agreed to buy 100 passenger jets from the US aircraft maker Boeing for US$11.3 billion, the airline said Monday, in a deal signed in front of the US president Barack Obama in Hanoi.VietJet said the deal was “the largest ever single commercial airplane purchase in Vietnam aviation".
It was penned in front of the Vietnamese president Tran Dai Quang and the American leader, who is on a three-day trip to the communist nation.A White House official confirmed the deal for 100 Boeing jets was among a raft of commerical agreements sealed on Monday worth more than $16bn.
“We expect this will support 60,000 American manufacturing and technology jobs," the official added.Founded in 2007 VietJet, which has previously drummed up publicity with bikini-wearing air stewardesses, is making a major move into the lucrative South East Asian aviation sector.In February the carrier announced that it had signed a $3.04bn deal with US engine maker Pratt & Whitney, underscoring the growth potential of the region’s low-cost airline market.
Industry players have said that South East Asia, including Vietnam, is a key growth market for budget air travel, driven by a growing middle class, many of whom are travelling for the first time.
Boeing has forecast that the region needs 3,750 new airplanes in the next 20 years, with more than three-quarters of the deliveries being single-aisle airplanes favoured by budget carriers.
