Vietnam Air orders low-emission engines for A321s

Vietnam Airlines has picked the International Aero Engines consortium (IAE) as the supplier of V2500 engines with reduced carbon-dioxide emissions for 36 Airbus A321 aircraft ordered from European plane manufacturer Airbus.

Just before the end of Farnborough Air Show in England over the weekend, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce under IAE told the Daily about their shares of the order for the V2500 engines designed to improve fuel burn advantage.

Both IAE and Vietnam Airlines did not disclose the value of the V2500 engine order, but part of it was revealed by the two member companies of the multinational aero engine consortium.

Around $235 million is the share granted to Pratt & Whitney, a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines. Meanwhile, the global power systems company, Rolls-Royce, said it would supply $240 million worth of V2500 engines.

Rolls-Royce said Vietnam Airlines now had 22 IAE-powered aircraft in service, and that more than 5,500 V2500 engines have been used or on firm order worldwide. The V2500 SelectOne enhances time on-wing by up to 20 percent.

The V2500 is produced by IAE in seven different thrust settings, from 22,000 to 33,000 lbs, to power the Airbus A319, A320 and A321 family of aircraft as well as the A319 corporate jet. In addition to Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce, IAE’s other partners are Japanese Aero Engines Corp. and MTU Aero Engines.

Airbus is expected to deliver the Airbus A321s with the V2500 engines to Vietnam Airlines from 2011. The airline will receive 26 of these aircraft while the remaining 10 will be owned by Vietnam Aircraft Leasing Co. (VALC), according to Pratt & Whitney.

Less than three years ago, Airbus inked $3.5 billion deals in Hanoi to supply ten A321s and ten medium-capacity A350-900s to Vietnam Airlines and another ten single-aisle A321s to Vietnam’s first aircraft leasing firm VALC.

Vietnam Airlines placed a firm order for 16 more A321s and clinched a memorandum of understanding for two more long-range widebody A350s with a total catalogue price of $1.9 billion at the Paris Air Show in France in mid-2009.

The 16 new A321s have brought the total number of Vietnam Airlines’ orders for the medium-haul aircraft to more than 40, with many of which already been delivered to the national flagship carrier.

Just in June this year, Vietnam Airlines received one new Airbus A321 as part of a strategy to modernise its aircraft fleet of different types and become one of the top carriers in Southeast Asia. This aircraft increased to 17 the number of A321s delivered to the airline.

Vietnam Airlines plans to expand its aircraft fleet to 70 this year from 57 last year, 115 by 2015 and 165 by 2020. In years to come, the carrier will receive modern aircraft, including Airbus A350s and Boeing B787s.- Saigon Times

Tags: International Aero Engines, Vietnam airlines, Vietnam aviation, Vietnam aviation industry, Vietnam aviation market