PARIS: Airbus was closing in on an order for 100 single-aisle aircraft from VietJet on Tuesday (Jun 17), with an announcement pencilled in for the Paris Airshow barring a last-minute setback in negotiations, industry sources said.
Airbus declined to comment and VietJet was not immediately reachable at the air show, where airline staff were witnessed preparing for a possible announcement.
The sources said the low-cost Vietnamese airline was looking to buy the A321neo model. A deal for 100 such planes could be worth around US$6.3 billion, according to estimated prices provided by analysts Cirium Ascend.
Bloomberg was first to report the potential deal.
European planemaker Airbus has announced a flurry of deals at the Paris Airshow, the world’s biggest aviation trade fair that opened on Monday.
US rival Boeing is expected to have a more subdued show as it focuses on the probe into last week’s fatal crash of an Air India Boeing 787 and after it racked up huge deals during US President Donald Trump’s recent tour of the Middle East.
VietJet, the largest airline in Vietnam, operates an all-Airbus fleet, apart from two Chinese-made regional jets. The airline has not to date taken delivery of any of the around 200 MAX planes it has ordered from Boeing.
Airbus is the main supplier of jets to Vietnam, with its aircraft making up 86 per cent of the planes currently operated by Vietnamese airlines. However, export-dependent Vietnam is under pressure from Washington to buy more US goods.
