Thai VietJetAir (VZ, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) has amended its fleet roll over plan and currently expects to complete the transition from Airbus to Boeing narrowbodies and grow to 50 aircraft by 2028, Chief Executive Woranate Laprabang told Thai media.
The low-cost carrier plans to take its first six B737-8s in 2024, with the first delivery slated for July 2024. This represents a delay of around a year compared to the previous plan, which foresaw deliveries from mid-2023 and a complete rollover to B737 MAX by mid-2024.
Due to the MAX's delayed arrival, Thai VietJetAir will lease two additional A321-200s this year, increasing its fleet to 20 aircraft, namely twelve A320-200s and eight A321-200s.
All fifty B737-8s are due to be in place by 2028. Thai VietJetAir plans to use the type's incremental range to launch new routes to points in Japan and South Korea. Woranate said during a briefing with the new prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, that the LCC would prioritise growth at Phuket, Thailand's leisure hub. Thai VietJetAir plans to resume domestic services from the island to Chiang Rai and add multiple new international routes to destinations in Southeast Asia, India, and possibly even Australia.
The LCC's Vietnamese parent, VietJetAir (VJ, Hanoi Noi Bai International), operates eighteen A320-200s, thirty-six A321-200s, eleven A321-200Ns, ten A321-200NX, and seven A330-300s. It has a further ninety-one A321neo, twenty A321-200NY(XLR)s, fifty B737-8s, and 100 B737-8-200s on order from Airbus and Boeing.
