European aviation giant Airbus said Thursday that Vietnamese airline Vietjet Air has agreed to buy 20 of its A330-900 planes.
Vietjet signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus for the widebody aircraft, which will replace its current fleet of leased A330-300 planes, Airbus said in a statement.
"We are excited to work with Vietjet on the next phase of the carrier's expansion," said Christian Scherer, chief executive of Airbus's commercial aircraft business.
When finalised, the order will be Vietjet's largest-ever widebody purchase, the airline said.
Benoit de Saint-Exupery, executive vice president of sales at Airbus's commercial aircraft business, described the deal as a "commitment to purchase" by Vietjet during a briefing at the Singapore Airshow.
Exupery said the firm expects the deal to be finalised "in the next few weeks", and the first delivery will be in 2026. Airbus did not provide a value for the deal. At list prices, the Vietjet order would be worth $5.9 billion, but customers usually get a discount when making bulk aircraft orders.
Budget airline Vietjet operates a fleet of 110 aircraft on about 30 international routes.
The new aircraft will operate on the carrier's growing long-range network, as well as on high-capacity regional services.
They will replace the carrier's current fleet of leased A330-300s, as well as provide for network expansion.
"The new A330neo aircraft is a strategic addition to modernize Vietjet's fleet comprehensively," Vietjet chief executive Dinh Viet Phuong said in a statement.