Jetstar Pacific (Ho Chi Minh City) has decided to retain the A320ceo as the backbone of its fleet after studies showed current oil prices coupled with higher capital costs had rendered the proposed transition to the A320neo economically unviable.
Jetstar Pacific's Chief Operations Officer (COO), Leslie Stephens, told CAPA that while the Vietnamese LCC would now extend short-term leases on existing A320-200 airframes, it would still consider the A320neo but only if their acquisition cost is reduced significantly. At the same time, the carrier has begun assessing other long term fleet options, including the Bombardier Aerospace (BBA, Montréal Trudeau) CSeries and Embraer (EMB, São José dos Campos U.E. Stumpf International) E-Jet E2 families.
In the short- to medium-term, Jetstar Pacific is looking to double its current fleet from twelve A320-200s to twenty-four by 2018. According to Stephens, this will be achieved through the delivery of six A320-200s every year beginning next year with the overall objective to reach thirty aircraft by early 2019.
Jetstar Pacific will also return its two dry-leased A321-200s to parent Vietnam Airlines (VN, Hanoi Noi Bai International) later this year, he added.
The added capacity will be used to both shore up the carrier's domestic Vietnamese market share where it competes with VietJetAir (VJ, Hanoi Noi Bai International) and to expand internationally with destinations in Southeast and North Asia currently being looked at.
