Vietnam Airlines To Expand Fleet To 150 Aircraft By 2020
National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines plans to raise its aircraft number to 150 by 2020 from the current 50, aiming to become the second biggest Southeast Asian carrier in 2015, after Singapore Airlines with 104 aircraft, the firm General Director Pham Ngoc Minh said.
The carrier will buy 39 Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A350-900 and A321 aircraft. It also intends to replace ATR72-200 aircraft being used for domestic flights with 14 modern ATR72-500 airplanes, Minh added.
The general director said New-generation ATR 72-500 aircraft are expected to be transferred from June 2009 to May 2010.
The airline is now operating 50 planes for 29 domestic routes and 36 international ones.
It will open four new domestic routes from July 2 this year, aiming to shorten the flying times on several routes, simplify flight licensing procedures and the efficiency of aviation monitoring.
The corporation estimates it will have 17,920 flights using the four new routes annually and the new routes will help it save up to hundreds of billions of VND every year. (Vietnam Economic Times)
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