Vietnam Airlines expands, VietJet Air adds: Vietnam widebody fleet

Vietnam's aviation market has expanded rapidly over the past six years, with passenger numbers more than doubling since 2011. However, Vietnam's widebody fleet has barely grown, whereas the narrowbody fleet has nearly tripled.

Widebody aircraft currently account for only 16% of the total airline fleet in Vietnam, compared to 26% at the end of 2010. Widebody growth should accelerate significantly over the next few years, driven by expansion at Vietnam Airlines and a new long haul low cost operation from VietJet Air.

More widebody aircraft are needed at Vietnam Airlines to increase capacity on regional routes where demand is increasing but frequencies cannot be added due to slot constraints. New widebody aircraft may also be used by both Vietnam Airlines and VietJet to launch services to the US.