Vietnam Airlines is expected to receive another wide-body Boeing 787-10 at the end of next month, to increase its transport capacity while the aviation market is lacking aircraft.
According to a representative of Vietnam Airlines, this is the 5th Boeing 787-10 aircraft out of a total of 8 aircraft under a lease-purchase contract with the American manufacturer. This aircraft has the registration number VN-A878, and is the 30th wide-body aircraft of the national airline.
This Boeing wide-body aircraft is over 68 meters long, has a commercial payload of 56-60 tons, and a maximum range of 11,910 km. The aircraft can carry up to 400 passengers, nearly double that of narrow-body aircraft.
Welcoming new aircraft will help the airline increase capacity and serve passengers during the upcoming summer peak season, in a context where the domestic market is lacking aircraft.
Vietnam Airlines' Boeing 787-10 aircraft is parked in South Carolina (USA), expected to return to Vietnam at the end of May. Photo: VNA
Currently, Vietnam Airlines has stopped operating 9 narrow-body Airbus A321 aircraft due to the need to remove engines for maintenance and may increase in the near future. Due to the disruption of the supply chain, the number of engines needing repair globally is up to thousands, the main aircraft flying on these domestic routes may be grounded for up to a year.
Domestic airlines are also having to increase night and early morning flights due to a lack of aircraft. Faced with this difficulty, the national airline said it has proactively pushed forward its aircraft maintenance schedule and rearranged its schedule to reduce aircraft turnaround time.
In the first quarter, each of this airline’s aircraft increased its daily operating time by an average of 18%. Vietnam Airlines alone plans to have 40% more flights during the peak summer time.
At the same time, the airline is also speeding up the search for partners to wet-lease 4 aircraft (lease both aircraft and crew) for the upcoming summer peak. In addition to negotiating with Boeing to receive B787-10s early, Vietnam Airlines is also working with Airbus to be able to add A320NEO aircraft. The airline is expected to receive another Boeing 787-10 aircraft by the end of June.
Anh Tu
source
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