VietJet signs fleet expansion deal
During Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to Japan, VietJet held a ceremony on October 10 to announce three new routes to Japan.
It signed a financing agreement with Mitsubishi UFJ Lease and Finance Company Limited (MUL), a member of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and the French banking group BNP Paribas.
The deal will see VietJet acquire five new aircraft, worth US$614 million, according to the listed price.
Vietjet launches Osaka-Hanoi flights on November 8, Osaka-Ho Chi Minh City on December 14, and Tokyo-Hanoi on January 11.
All routes will have daily return flights and can be booked at vietjetair.com.
Phuc said: “The launch of VietJet’s routes from Vietnam to the Kansai region of Japan has great significance in sharing the cause to rebuild Kansai’s economy and tourism after being devastated by the storm in early September, and contributes to the tourism, trade and integration development between the two countries and in the region.”
Hiroshi Tabata, commissioner of the Japan Tourism Agency, told the event: “These newly launched flights will be a huge boost for tourism in Kansai and also increase in the number of Vietnamese visitors to Japan.”
VietJet already flies to Osaka, Narita, Sendai, Nagoya, Komatsu, Ibaraki and Fukushima.
VietJet's France-based banking group Natixis and some Japanese equity underwriters, signed a US$625-million deal, to finance the five aircraft.
Their engines are designed to reduce fuel consumption, by at least 16 per cent up initially to 20 per cent by 2020, as well a 75 per cent reduction in noise and 50 per cent in emissions. The aircraft are due to be delivered to VietJet this year or early 2019.