HANOI: Vietnam's budget airline Vietjet has signed a finance lease agreement for 10 COMAC C909 narrow body aircraft with China's SPDB Financial Leasing, it said on Thursday (April 16).
The announcement was made during a visit to China by Vietnam's President To Lam, his first overseas trip since being elected state president last week, as part of broader efforts to deepen economic and aviation ties between the two countries.
The airline did not disclose the financial terms of the agreement, which will allow it to expand operations that were previously based on two COMAC jets under an arrangement with Chengdu Airlines.
Shanghai-based COMAC aims to challenge the dominance of Airbus and Boeing in the global aircraft market but has so far relied heavily on orders from domestic airlines and smaller operators in Southeast Asia, including those in Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei, Laos and Indonesia.
Vietnam last year approved the operation of the C909 following a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Hanoi.
Vietjet said the deal would enable the introduction of Chinese-made COMAC aircraft on Vietnam-China routes.
It is in the process of opening up five new routes connecting Vietnam's Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with Chinese cities such as Hangzhou, Enshi, Guilin, and Huangshan.
The carrier currently operates 135 aircraft, mostly Airbus models, and has nearly 600 aircraft on order from Boeing and Airbus, including a mix of narrow-body and wide-body planes. - Reuters
