Vietnam Airlines Will Auction Off 11 Airbus A321s
Vietnamese flag carrier Vietnam Airlines says it is preparing to auction off 11 Airbus A321 CEO aircraft that have been in service with the airline for more than 12 years. In a move aimed at countering a loss of revenue brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the state-owned carrier plans to sell the planes later this year to increase its cash flow.
Under the pretext of modernizing its fleet, this is not the first time that Vietnam Airlines decided to sell aircraft to replenish its coffers. In 2019 it put five Airbus A321-200CEO aircraft up for sale. A year later, it repeated the move, placing a further nine Airbus A321CEO planes up for sale.
Vietnam Airlines had a disastrous Q1
Under the pressure of being delisted from the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, the Hanoi-headquartered airline posted its largest-ever quarterly loss in the first three months of 2021. The SkyTeam member airline lost VND4.97 trillion ($216 million) in Q1 2021, pushing its accumulated debt to VND14.22 trillion ($620 million), which is slightly over its charter capital.
According to ch-aviation, Vietnam Airlines currently has 49 Airbus A321-200s, of which 27 are active while 22 are being stored. The rest of Vietnam Airlines’ fleet is comprised of the following aircraft:
- 2 x Airbus A320neos
- 20 x Airbus A321neos
- 14 x Airbus A350-900s
- 7 X ATR 72-500s
- 4 x Boeing 787-10s
- 11 x Boeing 787-9s
Selling the planes makes sense
Providing they can get a good price for the older planes they plan to auction off, it is probably a good move, and as we can see from the airline’s fleet, 22 Airbus A321 CEOs are in storage. As for the IATA Travel Pass, it’s a no-brainer and will allow Vietnam to get its all-important tourism sector back up and running.
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