BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Reuters) -Vietnam Airways will challenge requests for proposals to plane producers subsequent yr to buy 50 narrowbody jets, its CEO stated on Wednesday.
The service final yr signed a provisional cope with Boeing for 50 737 MAX planes that has but to be finalised.
“In Vietnam we have now to undergo the bidding course of, we have now to open to others… The door remains to be open for everybody,” Vietnam Airways CEO Le Hong Ha instructed Reuters on the sidelines of an Affiliation of Asia-Pacific Airways occasion in Brunei. “Boeing is one choice, they’ve an excellent supply 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 language planemaker COMAC is making an attempt to make inroads with its C919.
Vietnam Airways’ present narrowbody fleet consists of solely Airbus planes, its web site confirmed.
The airline wants 170 new plane by 2035, its CEO stated.
The requests for proposals go away open a chance for COMAC to supply the C919. China has more and more been advertising and marketing its planes to Vietnam.
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met a senior COMAC official final week in China who stated the Vietnamese market had sturdy potential, Vietnam’s state information company reported.
(Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Writing by Jamie Freed; Enhancing by Shri Navaratnam and Christopher Cushing)