Vietjet Aviation JSC will bolster the strategic partnership with Safran Aircraft Engines, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by the two sides in Paris on Tuesday.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by French President Emmanuel Macron and Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, during his official visit to France.

Accordingly, Safran Aircraft Engines will support Vietjet with fleet management services, training, R&D programmes including fuel efficient usage, technical management and help in creating regional-level support maintenance capabilities.

Vietjet has been a customer of Safran Aircraft Engines since 2011, via CFM International---a 50/50 joint company between Safran and GE. Today, VietJet Air operates 57 CFM56-powered A320 family aircraft and has signed by-the-hour service contracts for these engines.

To support its business growth, in 2016, Vietjet announced an order for 100 Boeing 737 MAX twinjets powered by LEAP-1B engines from CFM International. Deliveries of these aircraft will start in 2019.

The agreement marks a new milestone in the strategic partnership between Vietjet and Safran and CFM, Vietjet’s Vice President Dinh Viet Phuong said.

Phuong said he believed the new agreement would contribute positively to the economic and trade exchange between Viet Nam and France and create more jobs for the two countries.

“This MoU is in line with our recent commercial agreements with Vietjet and reflects the relationship of mutual trust between the airline and Safran Aircraft Engines and CFM,” Philippe Couteaux, Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, at Safran Aircraft Engines and CFM said.

While in France, Vietjet’s leaders also inked a finance agreement with GECAS France on purchasing and leasing six A321neo aircraft worth US$800 million. — VNS