VietJetAir (VJ, Hanoi Noi Bai International) took delivery of its first B737-8 on September 21. The handover, which coincided with the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Viet Nam, was held at Boeing's Delivery Center in Seattle, Washington and attended by senior Boeing and Vietnamese officials, including Viet Nam President Luong Cuong.

However, the airline has yet to ferry the aircraft to Viet Nam. It is not currently clear what the identity of the aircraft is, although ch-aviation verifies that at least three B737-8s destined for affiliate Thai VietJetAir have already operated test flights, HS-VZA (msn 63900), HS-VZB (msn 63898), and HS-VZD (msn 63908). Of these, only HS-VZB is currently parked at Seattle Boeing Field, where the handover ceremony took place.

The low-cost carrier has a direct order with Boeing for up to 100 of the type, in addition to another 100 B737-8-200 jets. The initial order for 100 aircraft was placed in 2016 and doubled in 2018. An inside source told Reuters that another B737-8 is expected to be delivered by October.

Thai VietJetAir will receive 50 of the jets. Its first B737-8 is scheduled to enter service by October. Thai VietJetAir chief executive Woranate Laprabang told the Bangkok Post in August that nine aircraft are expected to arrive during the final quarter.

US expansion

Following the aircraft handover, VietJetAir chairwoman Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao on September 26 visited the New York Stock Exchange to explore a potential listing and the launch of flights to the United States.

"We will soon fly to the US, and we are also very excited to explore opportunities to raise capital in New York, the world's largest stock exchange," she said.

VietJetAir currently operates a widebody fleet of eight A330-300s and has commitments for up to forty A330-900Ns. Without an intermediate stop, neither type can fly non-stop between Viet Nam and the US at full capacity.

Further, the low-cost airline flies seventeen A320-200s, thirty-six A321-200s, eleven A321-200Ns, and twenty-five A321-200NX. It is also wet-leasing two C909s from Chengdu Airlines for domestic routes.