An airline most famous for bikini-clad flight attendants just placed an $11 billion order with Boeing
REUTERS/Nguyen Huy Kham
The 5-year-old airline, which is known for risque PR stunts including bikini-clad flight attendants, ordered 100 737 MAX 200 airplanes.
President Barack Obama and Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang watched Vietjet CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao and Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Ray Conner sign the deal.
At current list prices, the deal is valued at $11.3 billion, although it's likely that Vietjet received a discount upwards of 50% off list prices.
Boeing
The Vietnamese government fined the airline $900 for the incident.
In 2014, photos and video from an airline sanctioned lingerie photo shoot leaked online. In addition, the airline has been known to hold celebratory in-flight fashion shows.
Bikini-clad models aside, VietJet has followed an aggressive and successful growth strategy. According to the Center for Aviation, VietJet has already captured 40% of the country's domestic airline market and saw its passenger traffic increase 70% in 2015.
This year, VietJet is expected to overtake the nation's flag carrier - Vietnam Airlines- as the its largest domestic airline.Vietjet is also expected hold an IPO as early as the second quarter of 2016, Bloomberg reported.
The 100-aircraft order is a landmark deal for Boeing in Vietnam. The country has long been an Airbus stronghold in Asia. Until now, VietJet has operated an all Airbus fleet and currently has firm orders for more than 100 additional A320-family jets. The country's other major airlines - Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific - all operate predominantly Airbus fleets.
REUTERS/Kham
Boeing expects to deliver the VietJet planes between 2019 and 2023.
VietJet currently operates 28 Airbus A320 and A321 airliners with an average age of just 3.6 years.
Here's the infamous Hawaiian-themed in-flight performance:
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