Vietnam Airlines to Buy 787 Dreamliners AND Airbus A350s

Is it a matter of getting the best of both worlds or is it purely political? That’s the question analysts are asking about Vietnam Airlines' plans to spend $5.5 billion on 12 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 10 competing Airbus A350s, as well as 20 A321s.

"It must be political," Paul Nisbet, an analyst at JSA Research in Newport, RI, tells Bloomberg News. He says buying both the 787 and A350, both long-range mid-sized, wide-body planes, just doesn’t make an awful lot of sense. In fact, he says it’s certainly not economical. "It’s going to cost the airline a lot to set up logistics support and training for two very different planes."

Vietnam Airlines executives aren't saying why they ordered aircraft from competing manufacturers, but say they're comfortable with the decision. Airline spokesman Trinh Ngoc tells Bloomberg, "We don’t see it as that difficult to handle." The airline, which currently flies only 10 wide-bodies, all Boeing 777s, wants to increase its fleet to 86 planes by 2015 and 110 by 2020.

Those watching this deal point out Vietnam has been seeking broad international support for its bid to gain a two-year sear on the UN Security Council. The US is Vietnam’s largest export market.

The deal with Boeing is reportedly worth $1.8 billion at list price. And, apparently this latest order comes on top of an existing order for four 787s. Meanwhile, the Airbus order for 10 A350s and 20 A321s totals $3.7 billion at list prices.

FMI: www.vietnamairlines.com