Vietnamese carrier VietJetAir has placed a firm order with Airbus for the purchase of six additional A321s.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, VietJetAir president and CEO, said: “The A320 Family has proven to be extremely efficient in service with VietJetAir. Since we took delivery of our first A321 in March this year, we have benefitted strongly from the additional capacity offered by theaircraft and its low operating costs. We are therefore placing this additional order for the A321 to meet demand on some of our most popular routes.”

Fabrice Brégier, Airbus president and CEO, said: “We are pleased to see VietJetAir renewing its confidence in Airbus by enlarging their A320 Family fleet. The A320 Family offers the lowest operating costs in the single aisle market and this latest order from VietJetAir further confirms the growing popularity of the A321 as the largest member of the product line.”

VietJetAir first took to the skies at the end of 2011 and now operates a fleet of 25 A320 Family aircraft on a network covering Vietnam and a growing number of destinations across Asia. Following the announcement, the carrier has ordered a total of 69 aircraft from Airbus, including this order, and also holds purchase rights for another 30 aircraft.