Vietnamese low-cost operator Vietjet has received its first Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, as part of plans to expand its international network.
Vietnam president Luong Cuong attended the handover ceremony at Boeing’s delivery centre in Seattle, along with senior officials from the USA and Vietnam. The president is in the USA to attend the UN General Assembly.
The aircraft is the first of 200 jets that Vietjet has committed to, in a deal valued at around $32 billion according to the carrier.
Vietjet, currently an all-Airbus operator, states that the 737s will be deployed on “high-demand regional routes”, though it does not specify. In May it said it will transfer 50 737 Max jets to its Thai unit Thai Vietjet Air.
The airline placed an order for 100 737 Max jets in 2016 and then doubled its commitments in 2018. Deliveries were initially set for 2019, but the fatal crashes – and subsequent global grounding – involving the 737 Max pushed its service entry timeline further right.
There had been growing uncertainty over the fate of the 737 orders, but according to a report from Reuters, airline and government officials had been keen to use the order a strategy to cut the country’s large trade surplus with the USA.
The Reuters report also suggests that a second 737 Max will be handed over in October. Vietjet has not yet revealed the delivery timeline of its 737 Max jets.