Vietnam Airlines obtains US$50M loan to purchase 16 A321s

Vietnam Airlines has received a US$50-million loan from for the Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) to purchase 16 Airbus A321 aircraft.

These new A321 aircraft form part of Vietnam Airlines’ master plan to triple its fleet from 50 to 150 aircraft by 2020.
The new aircraft will be used to increase flights and open the airlines network to new routes in Northeast Asia.

In June 2008, Techcombank, HSBC and Credit Suisse, jointly signed a financing package worth up to 120 million USD with Vietnam Airlines for the purchase of six ATR 72-500 aircraft from Airbus.

Vietnam Airlines plans to become the second biggest Southeast Asian airline after Singapore Airlines by 2015, when it is scheduled to have 104 aircraft in its fleet.