Vietnam’s national air carrier Vietnam Airlines is planning to sell its 11 Airbus A321ceo aircraft through an auction. The move comes as the ongoing pandemic continues to take its toll on the aviation sector.
“Vietnam Airlines is offering to sell 11 A321CEO aircraft with manufacture serial numbers (MSN) 2255 / 2261 / 2974 / 3005 / 3013 / 3022 / 3198 / 3315 / 3355 / 3600 / 3737,” read the airline’s statement.
The announcement posted on the airline’s website indicates that interested buyers are able to submit bids until June 29, 2021.
In the first quarter of 2021, cash-strapped Vietnam Airlines reported a net loss of 4.97 trillion dong ($215.68 million). While the reason behind the procurement announcement is left unexplained, the financial struggles might suggest that the airline is trying to sell aircraft in order to tackle cost problems.
Currently, Vietnam Airlines has a total of 100 aircraft in its fleet standing at an average of 6.7 years, the planespotters.net data shows. Out of the entire fleet, 47 aircraft are currently parked due to the decreased demand for international air travel. The largest part of the airline’s fleet consists of Airbus A321 family aircraft with 49 Airbus A321-200 and 20 Airbus A321ceo aircraft. Adding to that, Vietnam Airlines operates 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, 14 Airbus A350XWBs, and two ATR 72 jets.