Vietnamese low-cost carrier VietJet Air has signed an order for 100 Boeing 737 Max 200s, making it the second customer to commit to the high-density variant.
The order, valued at around $ 11.3 billion at list prices, was signed during a visit by US president Barack Obama to Hanoi.
“Our investment in a fleet of B737 Max 200 will accommodate our strategy of growing Vietjet’s coming international route network including long haul flights,” says VietJet president and chief executive Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao.
The jets will be delivered between 2019 and 2023, and will help boost the budget carrier’s fleet to more than 200 aircraft by 2023.
Flightglobal’s Fleets Analyzer shows that VietJet operates a fleet of 28 Airbus A320s and four A321s, while it has a further 85 A320-family aircraft on order – inlcluding 63 re-engined ‘neo’ variants.
All Boeing 737 Max aircraft are powered by CFM International Leap-1B engines.
The Max 200 variant is based on the 737 Max 8, but features a reconfigured exit row arrangement allows it to accommodate up to 200 passengers in a single-class arrangement. Ryanair is the launch customer for the variant.
