SAN FRANCISCO, June 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. top aircraft manufacturer Boeing announced Monday it will sell 20 787 Dreamliners to Vietnamese startup air carrier, Bamboo Airways, at list prices of 5.6 billion U.S. dollars.
Boeing signed an agreement with Vietnamese conglomerate FLC Group, the owner of Bamboo Airways, on the Dreamliners deal, under which Boeing will deliver the aircraft to its Vietnamese client starting April 2020 through 2021 after Bamboo Airways completed the deposit requirement in mid-June.
"We are excited to introduce these new 787 Dreamliners into our fleet as we prepare to launch long-haul operations to international markets," said Trinh Van Quyet, chairman of FLC Group.
The new state-of-the-art Dreamliners will help Bamboo Airways to expand key markets in Asia, Europe and North America, he said.
Bamboo Airways plans to begin commercial operations in 2019 out of the Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi, with initial operations on domestic flights, before expanding into other Northeast Asian markets.
"We are confident that the 787 will help launch Bamboo's long-haul operations and serve as the foundation of their success for many years to come," said Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president of Asia Pacific and India Sales of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Boeing said the 787 Dreamliner is an all-new, super-efficient family of commercial airplanes.
Since 2011, more than 690 Dreamliners have been delivered to operators, flying over 255 million people on more than 680 unique routes around the world, according to the U.S. aircraft giant.
