Earlier this month, Boeing and VietJet signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the continuous implementation of the order contract for 200 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

High-level meeting

The MOU was signed after the meeting between Vietnam's Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and Boeing's chief strategy officer and senior vice president of Strategy and Corporate Development, Marc Allen, during Vietnam's PM's visit to America for the ASEAN-US special summit.

One week after the meeting in Washington DC, Boeing's Senior Vice President Michael Arthur paid a visit to Hanoi, Vietnam, and met with Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Vương Đình Huệ.

During the meeting, Vương congratulated Boeing on the agreement, expressed optimism about the airline industry's recovery after the pandemic, and showed interest in other potential cooperation subjects, such as Boeing establishing a research / technical support center in Vietnam.

Through the intensive high-level confirmation, Boeing regained the solid order of 200 bestseller 737 MAX aircraft, which was interrupted because of the global grounding and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the aviation market and Boeing's supply chain. However, both Boeing and VietJet need to discuss further and amend the contract to suit the new situation.

The history of VietJet's two hundred 737 order

VietJet signed a one-hundred 737 MAX 200 purchase deal (worth $11.3 billion) with Boeing during former US President Barack Obama's visit to Vietnam in 2016. Obama also witnessed the signing with former Vietnam President Trần Đại Quang.

"Through this agreement, VietJet will contribute increasing bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and the United States, as well as the integration and development of the aviation industry in Vietnam,"

Said Ms. Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo, VietJet founder and chief executive, after purchasing one hundred 737 from Boeing.

In 2019, VietJet ordered another 100 Boeing 737 (worth $12.7 billion) to increase the total order to 200, witnessed by former President Trump and Vietnam Communist Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng. The additional 100 aircraft consisted of 20 737 MAX 8 and 80 737 MAX 10, making VietJet the biggest 737 MAX 10 user in Asia.

"The deal for 200 Boeing 737 MAX airplanes today is an important move for us to keep up with our international flight network expansion plan with a higher capacity, thus offering our passengers with more exciting experiences when being able to fly to more new international destinations,"

Said Ms Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo, VietJet founder and chief executive.

Now both parties agreed to continue implementing the following delivery of 200 aircraft since VietJet believes it's in line with the development and business strategy of the airline.

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The MAX saga

VietJet was initially scheduled to accept its first Boeing 737 MAX in 2019. However, three days after the Ethiopian crash in March 2019, the Vietnamese regulator grounded the 737 MAX.

Vietnam lifted the ban on MAX's transiting through its airspace in April 2021. Five months later, the country's civil aviation regulator made a proposal to its higher-level unit, the Ministry of Transportation of Vietnam, suggesting the MAX be allowed to fly in and out of Vietnam rather than just over it.

Now the Vietnamese regulator still has not yet lifted the ban on 737 MAX. Thus, the aircraft can not be delivered to the airlines within the country.

What do you think about 737 MAX's future in Vietnam?