The Vietnamese international budget airline just received an Airbus A321neo and become the first airline in Southeast Asia operates this kind of airplane.
The newest VietJet fleet member which as registered as VN-646 landed at Tan Son Nhat International Airport on January 2 from Hamburg, Germany. It is powered by Pratt & Whitney’s latest-generation GTF engines, and also is the 17th airplane VietJet Air bought from Airbus since 2017.
Fitted with 230 comfortable, leather seats and high-quality carpeting, the first five rows of Vietjet’s spacious, new A321neo have been especially designed to accommodate passengers flying Skyboss, the airline’s premium service. The aircraft’s interior also features a unique colour-changing LED light system and striking decor to create a comfortable and refreshing ambience through the whole cabin.
The GTF engines can help to reduce at least 16 percent from day one and 20 percent by 2020, also 75 percent reduction in noise and 50 percent in emissions, according to Airbus. The new technology engines was introduced in 2016 and VietJet Air is one of the first airline in the world to insert GTF engines into it’s airplane.
VN-646 will have its first flight in January 2018, serve both international and domestic routes.
At the moment, VietJet Air has an order with Airbus to provide 42 A320neo aircraft and the airline want to upgrade all of these into superior and larger A321neo models. The airline now has a total of 73 A321neo and 11 A321ceo on order for future delivery.
“The A321neo combines a higher capacity with the lowest operating costs in its class, offering unbeatable efficiency. This aircraft will be a real asset in Vietjet’s expansion plans in such a competitive market,” Fabrice Bregier, Airbus Chief Operating Officer cum President of Commercial Aircraft, said.
“The A320 family aircraft has greatly contributed to Vietjet’s impressive operation performance, with the airline’s technical reliability rate standing at 99.6 per cent in 2017. The aircraft have also helped us maintain some of the lowest operating costs in the airline world,” said Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Vietjet President and CEO.
“The upgraded A321neo deal once again emphasises Vietjet’s ceaseless efforts to modernise our fleet. We believe that the technical reliability rate and other operation and safety indexes will continue to go up in order to bring maximum comfort, joy and safety to our valued passengers,” she said.
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