The delivery highlights the start of the airline’s major expansion which will see it acquire up to 100 Airbus A320 aircraft, with 63 on firm order from Airbus.
The aircraft is the first of the 63 planes that the Vietnamese airline ordered from the European aircraft maker in a $6.4 billion deal in February.
In addition, the airline has purchase rights with Airbus for another 30 aircraft and will lease seven more from third parties.
The event was attended by top management from the airline, including Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao and Managing Director Luu Duc Khanhm, and witnessed by Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Transport Pham Quy Tieu.
The airline which began operation in 2011 became the first private airline in Vietnam to offer domestic and international routes.
VietJet Air currently operates all its routes using a fleet of 17 leased A320’s covering destinations in Vietnam and Asia.
“The A320 has proven to be extremely efficient in service with VietJetAir and is a favourite with our passengers,” said Luu Duc Khanh, Managing Director, VietJetAir.
“Based on this experience, we look forward to developing our business across the Asia-Pacific region, with the most economic and comfortable aircraft. We are delighted to celebrate this delivery as we embark on a new phase in our expansion,” he added.
The 63 aircraft already on firm order with Airbus comprise 14 A320ceo, seven A321ceo and 42 A320neo.
VietJet has been laying some ground recently, after it announced earlier this week its plans to launch flights connecting Vladivostok and Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, Hue, and Phu Quoc.
This announcement was made during the official visit to Coat of Arms of Russian Federation, and the airline said it hopes to continue to expand the flight network from Vietnam to other provinces in Russia.
The airline also released its plans to commence an affiliate cargo company, Vietjet Cargo, earlier this month, expanding its reach into transport freight and stabilising the carrier’s business development plan.
In the last year (2014 versus 2013), VietJet has boosted its network from 12 to 17 destinations and its overall network capacity has grown from just over two million seats in 2013 to almost 6.5 million this year. The arrival of the ordered Airbus short-haul jets will place the carrier on a trajectory for further expansion.
However, as our analysis, below, illustrates, the private entity retains a small (but growing) share of the Vietnamese domestic and international markets, which are dominated by Vietnam Airlines.
In the domestic market the airline's growth has been significant and it now holds a 19.3 per cent share of capacity, although this is still a long way short of the national carrier's 52.3 per cent share. In the international market, VietJet Air only made its debut in 2013 but has already grown its share of capacity from 0.3 per cent to 1.8 per cent.
Data provided by 
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